By Admin 
NEET UG 2026 examination held on 3 May 2026 has been cancelled. The National Testing Agency (NTA) has taken this decision after the approval of the Government of India. Since the formation of NTA in 2017, the organization remains in the news for some paper leak or cancellation of examination. According to the Education Ministry, NTA has canceled 16 major examinations from 2018 to 2024. The latest case in this series is the cancellation of NEET UG 2026 paper. This means that another stain has been added to the failure of NTA. So let us know how NTA has been failing for the last 9 years…
NTA: An institution that is repeatedly surrounded by questions.
The Union Cabinet had approved the formation of NTA in November 2017. Its main objective was to conduct examinations for admission to higher educational institutions transparently and efficiently. Today this organization conducts all national level examinations like JEE (Main), NEET-UG, CUET-UG, UGC-NET and CSIR-NET. But this is not the first time that fingers have been raised on the functioning of NTA. Since its formation in 2017, this agency has been the center of controversies several times.
How many examinations conducted by NTA have been affected so far?
NTA was formed in late 2017, but started conducting examinations from 2018. According to the information given by the Education Ministry in Parliament on July 2024, NTA has postponed at least 16 major examinations from 2018 to 2024. Many of these examinations were postponed due to the Covid-19 pandemic, administrative or technical reasons, but in the past years, incidents of examinations being canceled due to paper leaks and irregularities have been more in the news. NTA successfully conducted more than 240 examinations till 2024, in which more than 5.4 crore students appeared.
| date | name of exam | action | main reason |
| 19 June 2024 | UGC-NET | Cancelled | Fear of compromising the integrity of the examination |
| 21 June 2024 | CSIR UGC NET | Adjourned | lack of resources stated |
| 5 May 2024 | NEET UG 2024 | controversial | Supreme Court’s intervention after allegations of paper leak |
| 8 July 2024 | NEET UG 2024 | hearing | Supreme Court accepted the paper leak, but did not order re-examination |
| 3 March 2026 | UGC NET 2025 | investigation orders | Delhi High Court asked to form an expert committee to investigate the mistakes in the paper. |
This list is only of recent big controversies. Apart from this, there are many other examinations which were postponed due to Covid, technical glitches or administrative reasons. These include big examinations like JEE-Main 2020, NEET-UG 2020, JEE-Main 2021 and NEET-UG 2021.
On 17 December 2024, Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan announced in Parliament that ‘NTA will conduct only entrance examinations for higher education institutions from 2025, not recruitment examinations.’ Meanwhile, government data released revealed that NTA conducted only 29 examinations in 2024, which was the lowest since 2019. A huge decline was also seen in the number of examinees, which dropped from 1.33 crore in 2023 to 85.78 lakh in 2024. Instead of improving the functioning of NTA in 2025, the problems continued:
- Disturbances in JEE Main 2025: At least 12 questions in the JEE Mains exam held in January 2025 had to be withdrawn due to flaws in the answer keys.
- Postponement of UGC-NET: On January 13, 2025, NTA postponed the UGC-NET December 2024 exam due to clash with festivals like Makar Sankranti and Pongal. It was to happen on 15 January 2025.
- Cancellation of CUET UG: On 14 May 2025, NTA canceled CUET UG 2025 at an examination center in Srinagar due to a technical glitch, affecting 76 candidates.
By 2026, NTA’s failures reached their peak, resulting in the cancellation of NEET UG 2026. This decision did not come suddenly. In the last few years, irregularities in NTA examinations have become a pattern.
No permission to continue current examination process: NTA
Actually, NEET UG 2026 paper has been canceled after allegations of a big paper leak surfaced in Rajasthan. During investigation, the Special Operations Group (SOG) of Rajasthan Police found that a ‘guess paper’ was sold for lakhs of rupees, in which around 140 questions were similar to the actual NEET UG 2026 exam held on May 3.
NTA came to know about these irregularities on the evening of 7th May, the very next day on 8th May 2026, the matter was handed over to the central agencies for independent investigation. After the information received from the investigating agencies and the investigation done at its own level, NTA came to the conclusion that ‘the present examination process cannot be allowed to continue’. Now NTA will conduct this examination again, the dates of which will be announced soon through official channels. Many reliefs have been given to the students:
- registration: Students will not have to fill any new form for re-examination. Only their old data will be used.
- Fees: No additional examination fee will be charged from any student. Also, the fees they had deposited earlier will be refunded to them.
- Test: The Government of India has handed over a comprehensive investigation of the entire matter to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI). NTA will fully cooperate in this investigation.
Legal front against NTA gains momentum
The functioning of NTA has also been challenged in the courts. In many cases the judiciary has also reprimanded the agency. These include:
- Case in Supreme Court: In the NEET UG 2024 paper leak case, the Supreme Court had issued a notice to NTA and the Central Government and sought their response. During this hearing, the Supreme Court had said that one thing is clear that the paper was leaked, there is no doubt about it. However, the Supreme Court closed this case in April 2025. But this happened when the central government assured to implement the reforms suggested by an expert panel.
- Petitions in High Court: Many petitions were filed against NTA in 2025 and 2026 also. The courts rejected the petitions alleging irregularities in the response sheets of JEE 2025 and tampering with the OMR sheets of NEET UG 2025. At the same time, Delhi High Court ordered investigation by NTA in case of mistakes in a paper of UGC NET 2025.
Why are questions being raised on NTA?
NTA’s failure is not limited to just paper leaks, but has many dimensions:
1. Paper Leaks and Corruption: This is the most serious allegation, which is playing with the future of the students. In the case of NEET UG 2024, images of the paper were clicked from Hazaribagh in Jharkhand and Patna in Bihar and circulated through encrypted platforms like WhatsApp and Telegram. Some candidates had admitted to purchasing the paper by paying Rs 30-50 lakh. Now similar allegations have come to light in 2026 also.
2. Continuous mistakes: In 2024, the UGC-NET exam had to be cancelled, CSIR-NET postponed and the case of NEET UG reached the Supreme Court. Even after this, if the same situation arises again in 2026, it raises big questions on the preparations and security arrangements of NTA.
3. Questions on security protocols: NTA claims that it uses state-of-the-art technologies like AI-assisted CCTV, biometric verification and GPS-tracked vehicles. But when papers are leaked despite such tight security, it is obvious that either these arrangements are only on paper, or they are not worthy of responsibility.
4. Lack of Leadership and Accountability: The opposition and student organizations are continuously asking the question why no action is taken against the top officials of NTA despite repeated mistakes. Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi has also accused the government of playing with the future of the youth.
What next for students?
NTA has appealed to the students not to pay attention to any rumor and only trust the official website and notifications. This is a big test for the agency. It will not only have to conduct the examination afresh in a transparent manner, but will also have to win the trust of those 23 lakh students and their families, whose dreams and hard work are at stake.
NTA has conducted more than 240 examinations since 2018, in which more than 5.4 crore students have appeared. On one hand, this is a big achievement, but the repeated breaking of the basic trust on which the entire exam system is based is extremely worrying. The rebuke of the Supreme Court, cancellation of many examinations and some new controversy every year show that NTA is in dire need of big and strict reforms in its working style.
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