The cancellation of NEET UG 2026 following a paper leak controversy has triggered frustration and uncertainty among lakhs of medical aspirants across India.
May 12, 2026: The cancellation of the NEET UG 2026 examination has sparked anger and anxiety among MBBS aspirants nationwide, with many students questioning the functioning of the National Testing Agency (NTA). On Tuesday, the NTA announced that the medical entrance examination conducted on May 3 had been cancelled following inputs and findings from law enforcement agencies indicating that the integrity of the examination process had been compromised. The agency confirmed that the exam would be re-conducted on fresh dates to be announced later.
The decision has deeply affected students who believed they had performed well in the examination. Abhishek Verma, an aspirant from Lucknow, said he was expecting around 620 marks based on the provisional answer key and hoped to secure admission to a government medical college. He described the cancellation as mentally exhausting, saying students now have to restart the intense preparation cycle despite not being at fault. Another aspirant, Shashank Maurya, alleged that solver gangs and paper leak networks had unfairly benefited some candidates, while genuine students continued to suffer.
Meanwhile, the Rajasthan Police Special Operations Group (SOG) has launched an investigation into the alleged leak after intelligence inputs suggested that several questions from chemistry and biology had been circulated online before the examination. The Union government has now handed the case over to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) for a nationwide probe. The NTA said candidature details and examination centres from the cancelled exam would remain valid for the re-conducted test, which saw participation from more than 2.2 million candidates across the country.