Congress MP Shashi Tharoor on Tuesday slammed the government over repeated instances of irregularities in examinations at the national level, particularly the “paper leakage” controversy in the NEET-UG medical entrance exam, and termed the repeated lapses as a “betrayal of an entire generation”.
Tharoor also questioned the credibility of India’s examination system compared to global standards, questioning the reason for the “mess” being run by the government.
Speaking to news agency ANI, Tharoor said: “If you run a process where the integrity of the exams cannot be trusted, then you are in a tragic situation, where people who have put a lot of effort into preparing suddenly find that there are leaks, there is corruption, there is dishonesty, that the whole process is broken, and sometimes the exams are cancelled, and they have to start all over again.”
“The world is full of competitive exams that are conducted fairly, whether it’s the SAT, Cambridge exams, the ISC or something else,” he said.
“Why is something that is run only by our government constantly being tampered with? Why is the government in a position where it cannot ensure the fairness and integrity of such a simple process like the national examination,” the Thiruvananthapuram MP asked.
Fix the problem, Tharoor tells the Centre
Tharoor said the Center taking responsibility for recurring crises is “frankly” a lapse on the part of the government, and the layoffs should be responsible and take action to fix the problem. Otherwise, it is a betrayal of an entire generation. He said: We can only blame the government.
“Government, Ministry, NTA [National Testing Agency]All the people responsible for the situation in which what is done in every other country in the world is done in India in some way with this shameful leak and incompetence. I believe that the government, headed by Prime Minister Modi, has a comprehensive responsibility. This must never happen again. He added: “This is not the first time, but it must be the last time.”
NEET (UG) is the national entrance examination conducted by NTA for admission into undergraduate medical programmes. The NTA on May 12 said it had decided to cancel the NEET (UG) 2026 exam conducted on May 3, 2026, and reconduct the exam amid allegations of paper leakage.
The NEET-UG 2026 re-examination has been rescheduled for June 21 as the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) continues its investigation and has made multiple arrests, while protests by student groups have intensified in several parts of the country.
