The cancellation of NEET-UG 2026 has led to renewed scrutiny of the National Testing Agency’s examination structure – not just the process of setting questions, but the entire chain from paper preparation to printing to last-mile delivery, each of which has been identified, at various points, as vectors of leakage. Where the 2026 breach occurred is still under investigation, but an insider and a member of a government-appointed reform committee point to a shift in vulnerabilities: from downstream to upstream.
How are the papers placed?
The NTA’s questioning process is among the most fortified, people familiar with the process said. Separate panels of senior faculty from universities across the country are being brought virtually to the NTA building in Delhi for a week. Before entering, they hand over cell phones and all digital devices. All reference materials – textbooks and academic resources – are provided within the building. Security staff screen employees at every entry and exit point.
Each panel consists of a convenor and four subject matter experts – five members in total – who work in isolation from the other panels and remain unaware of the questions being asked elsewhere. Boards do not produce the final question paper directly. Instead, they each prepare a large set of vetted questions. The final paper is then generated through algorithm-based randomization, producing multiple combinations so that adjacent candidates receive different versions. “Until the final generation stage, no one knows the exact structure of the paper,” said a Central University faculty member involved in preparing the NTA paper, requesting anonymity.
A member of the K Radhakrishnan committee, which was formed after the NEET-UG 2024 controversy, described the paper preparation process as “very good” and very isolated.
2024 leak
The NEET-UG 2024 breach has been traced back to the distribution chain – printing presses, storage in strong rooms, transportation, and last mile handling of sealed question paper packages. In response, the NTA introduced sweeping reforms: GPS transportation of classified materials with police escort, central control rooms linked to CCTV cameras, Aadhaar-based biometric authentication, high-sensitivity metal detector inspections, and real-time centralized surveillance. District-level coordination committees headed by district collectors have been established, and 94% of examination centers have been shifted to state government or government-owned buildings, the agency said in a press release on May 2.
Committee member Radhakrishnan said these measures have significantly tightened “intermediate and final” operations – examination center operations, proctoring and logistics. In other words, the final series breakout is more difficult than it was in 2024.
Where something might have gone wrong in 2026
This hardening of downstream processes shifted investigative auditing toward what a panelist described as the “upstream” phase—question collection, paper preparation, and back-end access controls. “If there was a leak, it likely happened at the upstream stage — at the higher-level question compilation stage,” the panelist said. He added that the breach could have occurred either within the NTA or through third parties, and that any potential relationship between insiders and outsiders would need to be investigated by investigative agencies.
The faculty member who described the process of preparing the paper pointed out a specific vulnerability: contract workers involved in technical operations such as question processing, writing, and translation. “A large number of questions from the guess paper appeared on the actual paper,” the faculty member said, suggesting that these employees “may be behind the leak.”
The employment problem that the reform has not solved
Both sources pointed to the same institutional fault line: NTA’s reliance on non-regular staff.
“We have recommended complete restructuring with more permanent staff and less reliance on contract workers. But NTA is yet to adhere to this recommendation,” the committee member said.
NTA DG Abhishek Singh — who took office on April 1, 2026 — said the agency will announce the re-examination schedule within 10 days. He did not respond to HT’s queries for comment.
