NEET cancelled | Paper leaks expose state’s indifference

When the NEET Examination 2026 was cancelled on May 12, the Director General of the National Testing Agency justified the decision because the bluff must be called, even though it is a “tough decision” for students and parents. Unfortunately — and this is a telling reflection of the State's indifference to this crisis — this is not the first time the students have faced the spectre of a paper leak.

It was in 2024 that an organised racket leaked papers, raising questions on the sanctity of the examination. In 2018, CBSE papers were leaked; in 2017, the Staff Selection Commission examination papers were leaked; in 2015, the All India Pre-Medical Test was cancelled after the process was compromised.

There are innumerable examples from different states, such as that of the constable exam in Uttar Pradesh, the Vyapam scam in Madhya Pradesh or in Rajasthan, among many other states. This indifference takes place irrespective of the political party in power.

Governments have always made promises and even enacted legislation, but paper leaks continue unabated. Inquiries and arrests are not the solution, because, if they were, by now the problem would have been solved.

Has any government tried to understand the reasons behind this desperation among those appearing for these exams? In the absence of serious thinking that transcends approaching this crisis as a law-and-order problem, paper leaks will continue.

In 2026, 22.7 lakh students registered for the NEET examination, whereas for IIT-JEE 2026 14.5 lakh students registered. These two examinations provide a major thrust to the coaching ecosystem, which is of a size somewhere around Rs 58,000 crore and is projected to reach Rs 1.3 lakh-crore by 2028.

This is also an extremely unregulated system, which has not only resulted in fire safety hazards but has been characterised by student suicides. Kota, a prominent coaching hub, has reported 14 suicides in the first five months of 2026 — 17 were reported in 2024, and 26 in 2023.

One wonders why these examinations continue to attract such appeal despite most applicants failing and the process being so dehumanising. Parents perceive a medical degree as a rare pathway to economic success, and over time, a societal mindset has evolved in which the coaching industry manufactures a ‘spectacle of success’.

Students. indoctrinated through what Freire called the banking model of education and reinforced by socialisation, feel compelled to chase this ‘success’. Social media clips of students prostrating before coaching-shop owners illustrate how deeply this belief grips both students and parents.

The State offers no counter-narrative. Youth unemployment has climbed to 15% in the first quarter, with educated youth facing rates three times the national average. The fear of unemployment or low-paying jobs drives the gamble of these exams.

They see 24.76 lakh candidates, including PhDs and MBAs, apply for just 53,749 office attendant jobs in Rajasthan, or 18 lakh compete for 18,000 low-level government vacancies in Haryana, or 25 lakh for 6,000 clerkships. In this precarious economy, insecurity pushes families to pin hopes on these exams, and the coaching industry exploits that desperation, reinforcing the idea that medicine or engineering are the only viable futures.

When exams are cancelled, hope collapses. Students trained in the mechanical rhythms of preparation are forced to restart. Some have been preparing since Class V, others migrate to coaching townships with ‘dummy’ schools, reshaping their lives around a single goal. They appear for exams with great hope, only to be told that the system is flawed. Their helplessness deepens when demands for fairness are met with violence.

Bureaucratic solutions miss this social and economic complexity. What is needed is a reboot of the educational system. Current examinations distort knowledge into mechanical MCQs, excluding vast numbers. The system denies inclusion, shirking society’s responsibility to democratise knowledge and employment.

Resolution requires the State to rework what counts as knowledge, decentralise education and examinations, and build an employment landscape that offers students genuine alternatives.

Ravi Kumar is Associate Professor, Department of Sociology, South Asian University.

(Disclaimer: The views expressed above are the author's own. They do not necessarily reflect the views of DH.)