Patna: Jan Suraj founder Prashant Kishor has hit out at National Testing Agency (NTA) Director General Abhishek Singh, pointing out that the scale of the question paper leak does not diminish the seriousness of the crime or its devastating impact on students.
His statements came after the official cancellation of the exam due to integrity concerns. Speaking to reporters in Patna, Kishor rejected attempts to downplay the violation, stressing that the system had fundamentally failed the candidates who had spent months of hard work preparing them.
“It will be considered a paper leak even if only one question or five questions are leaked,” Kishor said. “You have messed with the future of the students. They worked hard and took the exam, and such things affected them.”
The political activist-turned-politician questioned the logic of discussing the scale of the leak after the decision to cancel the test had already been finalised.
“The exam has been cancelled, so what does it matter how many questions were leaked?” Kishor added, pointing to the repetition in NTA’s defense once the credibility of the test was completely compromised.
The statement adds to the growing political and public pressure on the NTA regarding its examination security protocols, as repeated cancellations continue to cause widespread anxiety and frustration among millions of young aspirants across the country.
According to sources, NTA DG Abhishek Singh and Higher Education Minister Vineet Joshi told the committee that many of the reforms recommended to strengthen the examination system have already been implemented, while work on the remaining measures was ongoing.
Officials confirmed that the alleged leak did not originate from the NTA system, and said that the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) is investigating the circulation of leaked questions that led to the cancellation of the exam, according to sources.
They also defended the cancellation under the agency’s “zero tolerance” policy, noting that even a limited waiver of questions could undermine public confidence in competitive exams.
The Parliamentary Standing Committee also reviewed the measures being taken to prevent similar incidents in the future and discussed proposals to convert NEET-UG to a computer-based examination format from next year.
Political tensions continue over the NEET-UG 2026 controversy, leading to the cancellation of the exam held on May 3 in 551 cities in India and 14 international centres, with over 22 lakh candidates appearing.
The re-examination is scheduled to be held on June 21 under enhanced security measures mandated by the Federal Ministry of Education.
