A parliamentary standing committee is learnt to have asked the National Testing Agency about its preparations for the June 21 NEET UG-2026 retest and its plans to conduct the examination in the computer-based format from next year.
The NTA has been conducting the NEET-UG in the pen-and-paper mode since 2019. Before the NTA, the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) conducted the test in the same format.
After the alleged NEET-UG paper leak this year, leading to its cancellation, the NTA decided to conduct the test in the computer-based test (CBT) mode starting next year. The agency conducts its premier examinations, such as the Joint Entrance Examination (JEE) Main, Common University Entrance Test and the National Eligibility Test, in the CBT mode.
The JEE-Main was hit by a paper leak in 2021 despite being held in the CBT mode. The NEET retest, however, will be held in the pen-and-paper mode on June 21.
Higher education department secretary Vineet Joshi and NTA director-general Abhishek Singh are learnt to have attended the meeting chaired by Congress MP Digvijaya Singh, the head of the parliamentary committee.
Sources said that the panel wanted to know the preparations for the NEET retest. The secretary and the DG explained the enhanced safety measures the NTA was taking for the retest.
The committee is learnt to have asked the NTA last week to explain the procedure for question-setting, translation, printing and paper transport and wanted to know whether the NTA allowed experts involved in paper-setting to be associated with commercial activities such as coaching centres. The NTA is yet to respond to the
questions.
Against the backdrop of the CBI arresting NEET UG question-setters for their alleged role in the leak, the committee sent about 20 questions to the NTA to respond in detail, sources said.