New Delhi : Members of the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Health and Family Welfare have proposed conducting the National Eligibility-cum-Entrance Test (Undergraduate), or NEET-UG, multiple times a year to alleviate pressure on students and prevent the loss of an entire academic year.
The committee met on Wednesday to discuss the NEET-UG paper leak controversy. Officials from the National Testing Agency (NTA) and the National Medical Commission (NMC) provided briefings about the sequence of events, investigations conducted, and measures taken following the alleged breach.
The meeting reviewed the ‘Conduct of NEET examinations under NMC Act, 2019’ as part of a broader examination of the ‘Organisational Structure, Mandate and Functional Proficiency of Regulatory Institutions pertaining to the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare’. Attending officials included NTA Director General Abhishek Singh, Higher Education Secretary Vineet Joshi, and NMC Chairman Abhijat C Sheth. The committee is chaired by Samajwadi Party MP Ram Gopal Yadav.
This session marked the third recent appearance by government officials before parliamentary panels on the cancelled NEET-UG exam held in May due to allegations of a paper leak. The examination has been rescheduled for June 21. NEET-UG, India’s largest medical entrance exam, is currently conducted once annually in a single sitting. The May 3 exam was cancelled following the leak allegations.
Committee members expressed concern over the recurring nature of such incidents, noting similar controversies in 2024 and 2026. They raised questions about accountability and whether existing punishments sufficiently deter future breaches.
“All the MPs discussed the need to move forward on this because it is not a one-time issue, it has become a recurring problem. Since it happened in 2024 and again in 2026, the question is who is accountable for it, how accountability should be fixed, and whether the punishment is sufficient to ensure such incidents do not happen again,” stated a source.
Additionally, members proposed holding NEET-UG two or three times annually to provide students multiple opportunities to clear the examination and avoid losing an academic year due to circumstances beyond their control.
“Members suggested that there should be multiple NEET examinations throughout the year, at least two or three, because when a student misses out on an entire year of education due to somebody else’s fault, it has a very deep impact on the students,” the source added.
Government officials indicated to the panel that this suggestion would be reviewed.
The call for multiple NEET examinations yearly has been repeatedly made by student groups. In July 2018, then Union HRD Minister Prakash Javadekar announced that the NTA would conduct JEE Main and NEET-UG twice annually; however, this was never implemented.
In 2023, the National Medical Commission stated that conducting NEET-UG twice a year was not feasible since all MBBS seats are allocated through a single counselling process.
Officials also informed the panel that the government is considering introducing Computer-Based Testing (CBT) for NEET starting from the next examination cycle. MPs highlighted the necessity of a smooth transition, particularly for students in rural areas, citing concerns over digital access, infrastructure, and the availability of examination papers in regional languages.
