NEET-UG 2026 Re-examination: NTA Assures Fair, Secure Conduct

New Delhi: The National Testing Agency (NTA) on Saturday said it has put in place "comprehensive arrangements" to ensure "fair, secure and candidate-friendly" conduct of NEET-UG 2026 re-examination scheduled for Sunday.

The agency said it is closely monitoring social media and taking firm action against rumour-mongering and fraudulent "paper leak" claims, which cause needless stress to candidates, urging candidates and parents to rely solely on official communication from the NTA and disregard unverified messages.

In a statement issued on the eve of the re-test, the NTA said the examination is being conducted across 5,440 centres in 551 cities in India and 14 centres abroad. The examination is being conducted in English and 12 Indian languages.

Highlighting the scale of arrangements, the NTA said the re-test will be held in more than 95,000 examination rooms, each equipped with CCTV.

A total of 1,38,560 CCTV cameras have been installed, with feeds monitored virtually at the national, state and ministry levels, it said.

To secure the examination against electronic malpractice, 51,311 jammers have been deployed, including 17,054 by ECIL (Electronics Corporation of India Limited) and 34,257 by BEL (Bharat Electronics Limited), it added.

The NTA said a large number of staff have been mobilised for examination-day duties, with each of the examination rooms having two invigilators and every centre staffed with more than 10 additional examination functionaries.

Candidate verification has been strengthened with 38,795 frisking staff and 48,448 personnel for biometric verification, with biometric manpower doubled and supported by face authentication, so that verification is thorough while queues at centres are kept to a minimum, the agency said.

A centre systems officer (CSO) has been deployed at each of the 5,440 centres to monitor CCTV feed and resolve any technical issue on the spot, it said.

On observation and CCTV monitoring, the NTA said around 6,700 observers have been deployed at examination centres, supported by more than 100 virtual observers monitoring the live CCTV footage centrally.

The CCTV footage is additionally analysed using artificial intelligence-based tools to flag anomalies, providing a multi-layered monitoring system at the national, state and ministry levels, the statement said.

It said there has been extensive mobilisation of state and district administration staff, besides deployment of police, paramilitary forces, Indian Air Force and Department of Posts personnel.

On average, around 40 to 50 security personnel have been deployed at each examination centre, it said.

Bank officials have been deployed at approximately 1,500 bank branches holding the confidential material, while the Department of Posts will coordinate its teams for the collection of OMR sheets at around 700 collection centres across the country, the statement said.

Review meetings have been held with chief secretaries and senior officials of all states, and districts have confirmed centre arrangements, it said.

A nationwide mock drill was conducted on Saturday to verify all systems -- jammers, CCTV, frisking staff and biometrics -- while coordinators have verified the examination material held in the custodian banks and confirmed its availability for the examination, the agency said.

It said in coordination with state governments, student-friendly facilities are being provided at centres, including drinking water, ORS, ambulances and shaded waiting areas for parents.

For candidates, additional measures include a wall clock in every examination room, additional rough-work pages, with pages provided at the beginning of the booklet for the convenience of left-handed candidates, and an extended examination window to offset the time taken for entry formalities.

The NTA appealed to all stakeholders to extend full support to candidates and help reduce examination-day stress so that over 22 lakh aspirants "can appear for the examination in a calm, secure and supportive environment".

The NTA on May 12 cancelled the National Eligibility-cum-Entrance Test (Undergraduate), NEET-UG, held on May 3 amid allegations of paper leak. The re-examination is scheduled for Sunday, June 21.