We strongly condemn the massive question paper leak and subsequent cancellation of NEET UG 2026, which has pushed lakhs of students into uncertainty, anxiety, and psychological distress. Reports regarding large-scale compromise of the examination process and the cancellation of the exam have once again exposed the deep crisis surrounding the National Testing Agency (NTA) and the centralised examination regime imposed by the Union Government. Recent investigations have further revealed the involvement of Shubham Khairnar, a 30-year-old BAMS student from Nashik, who has been detained by the police and later taken into custody by the Central Bureau of Investigation in connection with the alleged paper leak case. Reports indicate that he allegedly purchased the leaked NEET UG paper for ₹10 lakh and sold it for ₹15 lakh through organised networks operating across multiple states.
For millions of students from working-class, Bahujan, Adivasi, Dalit, minority, and economically marginalised backgrounds, NEET is not merely an examination, it is projected as the gateway to education and social mobility. Yet, every recurring paper leak, malpractice scandal, and administrative failure reveals how the present system is structurally anti-student and anti-poor. This crisis is not an isolated technical failure, but the direct outcome of a centralised, exclusionary, and profit-driven education system that treats students as commodities rather than human beings. The neoliberal centralisation of entrance examinations has converted education into a competitive marketplace dominated by coaching corporations, private capital, and bureaucratic institutions that systematically marginalise the oppressed.
The repeated failures of the NTA demonstrate how the current examination regime reproduces caste and class inequalities. Students from privileged social locations possess access to expensive coaching centres, private resources, digital infrastructure, and social networks, while oppressed communities are forced to struggle against institutional neglect, financial insecurity, and educational alienation. The paper leak culture further strengthens corrupt networks and exam mafias that thrive within this unequal system. The cancellation of NEET UG 2026 has imposed enormous mental, emotional, and financial burdens upon students and their families. Many students travelled long distances, spent significant amounts of money on transport and accommodation, and prepared for years under intense pressure, only to become victims of institutional incompetence. Public reactions across the country have reflected widespread anger against the NTA and the Union Government. We stand in solidarity with all affected students across the country and calls upon the student community to unite against the systemic destruction of public education.
By PRANAV K J
