NEET UG should be computer-based, NTA must vet paper setters, says Parliamentary panel

A Parliamentary panel on education has recommended that the National Testing Agency (NTA) invest in large question banks, set the final question papers very close to the exam, and rely on bona fide experts from institutions such as the IITs, AIIMS and IIMs, as steps against paper leaks.

The department-related Parliamentary Standing Committee on Education, Women, Children, Youth and Sports, headed by Rajya Sabha MP Mukul Wasnik, presented its report on ‘Reforms and Strengthening of the National Testing Agency’ to the Rajya Sabha chairman on Friday, according to PTI. The panel also suggested a framework to ensure the NTA’s accountability to Parliament.

Also read: NEET protest: SC rejects plea for independent probe into CJP agitation


The panel said the cancellation of NEET (UG) 2026 despite all measures taken shows the need for greater procedural and institutional reforms.

Investment in question banks

The panel noted that investing in question banks is the most viable defence against paper leaks in the long run, PTI reported. It said repeated use of the same question sets, or having examiners set new papers every year, can put the integrity of the exam at risk.

The panel said the NTA should build a large, diverse and continuously updated question bank. Papers can be drawn from it without any question setter knowing in advance which questions will appear.

Papers to be set close to the exam

The Centre has announced that from next year NEET (UG) will be conducted as a computer-based test (CBT), and not in pen-and-paper mode.

The panel noted that in a CBT, question papers no longer have to be printed and transported to exam centres, so there is no need to set them long in advance. It said the final papers should be set very close to the exam, with questions drawn from the question bank using digital tools and only vetted by experts.

The panel stressed strict quarantine and sequestering of the final paper vetters until the exam ends.

Vetting of experts

The NTA must rely on bona fide experts from the country’s most renowned educational institutions, including the IITs, AIIMS and IIMs, to develop its question banks and for translation, the panel said.

The agency must also develop a system to check the track record of these experts, to establish their integrity and rule out conflicts of interest before recruiting them. The panel gave examples of such conflicts, including owners or faculty of private coaching centres and family members taking the exam.

Concerns on access to CBT

The panel raised concerns about how accessible the CBT will be to students from remote regions and marginalised backgrounds. It recommended that the move to CBT be accompanied by a concerted national testing strategy to maximise digital accessibility.

The report follows the controversy over the NEET paper leak and administrative lapses in the NTA. The controversy led to nationwide student protests and ultimately the resignation of then Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan.

NEET (UG) 2026 was held on May 3 across 551 cities in India and 14 abroad, with more than 22 lakh candidates appearing at over 5,400 centres. The NTA cancelled the exam on May 12 after allegations of a coordinated paper leak, and the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) was asked to carry out a comprehensive inquiry. The NTA later scheduled the re-examination for June 21, with the approval of the government.

Questions over those who had access to the paper figured in the probe. According to ANI, the CBI arrested a chemistry lecturer linked to the exam process on behalf of the NTA, who it said had access to the question papers. The agency alleged that he dictated questions, options and correct answers to students at special coaching classes in Pune before the exam. It said these tallied with the actual paper.

The panel took up the matter soon after the cancellation. On May 21, it reviewed the status of the CBI investigation and the implementation of the K Radhakrishnan committee report on NTA reforms.