ANI reported that NEET-UG 2026, held on May 3 across 551 Indian cities and 14 cities abroad for over 22 lakh candidates, was cancelled by NTA on May 12 after alleged coordinated paper leak claims. The re-examination is scheduled for June 21, while Pradhan earlier said NEET-UG will move to CBT mode next year onward.

New Delhi: Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan today chaired a high-level review meeting with Central Security and Intelligence agencies to seek support for the upcoming NEET-UG re-examination, stressing the need for heightened vigilance and foolproof security arrangements to ensure a safe, secure and fair conduct of the examination.

Senior officials from the Ministry of Education and the Director General of the National Testing Agency (NTA) also participated in the meeting, where preparations were reviewed in detail to identify vulnerabilities in advance and ensure timely preventive and corrective measures.

In a parallel meeting with representatives of major social media platforms - Meta, Google and Telegram, serious concerns were raised over the growing spread of misinformation related to competitive examinations, particularly through Telegram channels and anonymous online groups.

Officials noted that several such channels become highly active in the run-up to major examinations, circulating fake paper leak claims, clickbait content and unverified information that trigger panic, anxiety and confusion among students and parents. It was highlighted that many such links redirect users to automated bots and fake groups designed to amplify misinformation.