Medical students have been barred from taking leave on May 2 and 3 to prevent them from appearing as proxy candidates in the NEET-UG 2026 examination scheduled for May 3 — a practice flagged in past editions of the test.
The National Medical Commission (NMC) has advised all medical colleges not to grant leave on those days barring “exceptional circumstances with due justification,” acting on a direction from the department of higher education (DoHE) under the Union ministry of education.
On April 20, DoHE secretary Vineet Joshi wrote to Union health ministry secretary Punya Salila Srivastava, urging vigilance and sensitisation of students against any involvement in malpractices. He also recommended denying leave on May 2–3 except in justified cases.
“In view of certain instances reported in the past… all medical colleges shall remain vigilant and ensure that medical students are sensitised against any involvement in activities prejudicial to the conduct of the examination,” NMC secretary Dr Raghav Langer said in a notice dated April 23.
Officials in both NTA and education ministry said in NEET UG 2024, at least 7 MBBS students were arrested from Bihar, Jharkhand and Rajasthan who either appeared as proxy candidates for aspirants or were part of solvers gangs.
“In NEET-UG 2024, seven MBSS students were arrested by CBI who were part of solver gang that facilitates cheating by leaking question papers, creating fake identities for providing proxy candidates to appear in exams in place of the original, paying candidates. To avoid such a situation in this year’s NEET exam, the measure not to grant leaves to medical students on May 2 and 3 have been taken,” a senior education ministry official told HT, requesting anonymity.
The National Testing Agency (NTA) will conduct NEET-UG in a single shift in pen-and-paper mode across 551 cities and over 5,400 centres in India and abroad, covering around 2.28 million candidates.
NTA director general Abhishek Singh said multiple steps are being taken to ensure an error-free exam. Biometric verification has been strengthened, with one machine for every 48 candidates compared to one for 100 last year, he said. The agency is also verifying category changes by candidates to prevent misuse of fake documents.
Singh said logistical coordination is underway to address challenges such as the West Asia conflict and elections in some states, with vote counting on May 4. “We have put extensive coordination in place with state governments, district administrations and enforcement agencies to minimise inconvenience to candidates,” he said.
Enhanced security measures include GPS-tracked transport of question papers with police escort, double-lock strong rooms with 24×7 CCTV, Aadhaar-based biometric checks, two-layer frisking, and real-time monitoring through control rooms.
“All centres have undergone rigorous third-party verification and centres linked to coaching institutions or with inadequate infrastructure have been excluded. Government officials have been appointed as centre superintendents, observers, and city coordinators. We have also put live dashboards and real-time monitoring systems in place for oversight,” Singh said.
The steps follow Neet-UG 2024 paper leak controversy, after which the Centre set up a seven-member panel led by former ISRO chief K Radhakrishnan to strengthen NTA’s functioning.
