The National Testing Academy (NTA) reiterated that the posts circulating on social media alleging question paper leak of the NEET-UG 2024 “are completely baseless and without any ground”. The Agency assured candidates, their parents, teachers and all concerned that the examination was conducted successfully across 4750 centres in 571 cities in India and abroad and urged them to pay heed to such rumours and concentrate on forthcoming examinations.

The National Entrance and Eligibility Test is an all India entrance test for admission to the undergraduate medical courses in all government and private medical institutions in the country. NTA, an autonomous agency under the Department of Higher Education, Ministry of Education is the nodal agency for conduct of NEET-UG.

Soon after the entrance test commenced on 5th May 2024, allegations of paper leak surfaced on social media. NTA had clarified on the same day that Hindi medium candidates were mistakenly given English medium question paper and when those in charge were trying to rectify the mistake, some students forcible walked off with the question paper.

However, NTA said that this particular incident “did not compromise the integrity of the examination process at other centres” as by that time, the gates of the other 4749 examination centres were already closed and no one from outside is permitted access inside the Halls which are under CCTV surveillance.

“To put rumours to rest, it is also stated that every single Question Paper (QP) has been accounted for,” NTA stated in its Public Notice issued on 6th May 2024.

It also asserted that “All other photographs of QPs circulating in Social Media have no relation to the Actual Examination Question Paper which has been administered.”

Meanwhile, the Agency mentioned that strict action has been taken on impersonators and candidates involved in malpractices during the examination. According to a report by Hindustan Times, Bihar Police has arrested over 20 people for “cheating and alleged paper leak of NEET-UG 2024”. The report said that those arrested included parents of candidates and at least 14 were impersonators or solvers.

In the statement, NTA’s Senior Director, Dr. Sadhana Parashar, informed that the Agency also conducts post-exam data analysis, to detect cases of Unfair Means (UFM). Action on UFM cases is taken as per extant rules, which includes cancellation of candidature and debarment from future examinations.