Why NEET 2026 Was Cancelled | As NTA Sleeps - Paper Leak Mafia Goes On A Rampage | Akash Banerjee
Akash Banerjee delivers an impassioned critique of India's National Testing Agency (NTA) following the third leak of the NEET medical entrance exam (2021, 2024, 2026), affecting 22 lakh students. He argues that systemic corruption, lack of accountability, and weak punishment have made paper leaks the norm rather than the exception. He calls for digitization of exams, severe public punishment for culprits, and greater civic engagement from students and parents.
Summary
Akash Banerjee opens by explicitly setting aside political affiliations, framing the NEET paper leak crisis as a non-partisan issue that threatens the future of India's youth. He expresses frustration at NTA's press statement cancelling NEET 2026, calling it hypocritical — comparing it to a drunk driver crashing a car and then boasting about road safety responsibility. He emphasizes the human cost, noting that underprivileged and middle-class families mortgage gold to fund NEET preparation, making the casual rescheduling of the exam deeply unjust.
Banerjee reveals that NEET has been leaked not twice but three times — in 2021, 2024, and 2026 — a fact he says mainstream media has underreported. He details the mechanics of the 2026 leak: a 150-page PDF containing 410 questions circulated in WhatsApp groups, of which 130 appeared identically on the actual exam, including all 90 biology questions. The leak is traced to an MBBS student from Churu district, Rajasthan, studying in Kerala, who passed it through a chain of PGs, students, and counselors. He notes NTA was informed on May 7, agencies on May 8, and cancellation was discussed on May 12, but the original source and mastermind remain unidentified.
He contextualizes the 2026 leak within a broader pattern of exam fraud across India, citing approximately 50 documented paper leak instances in the last five years affecting 1.5 crore students, and suggesting the real number is far higher. Examples cited include REET 2021 in Rajasthan, UP Police Constable Recruitment 2024, 67th BPSC Combined Exam 2022, Vyapam in Madhya Pradesh, the West Bengal SSC recruitment scam, CBSE 2018, and JEE Main. He argues that leaks have migrated from minor regional exams to the most prestigious national examinations, signaling a systemic collapse.
Banerjee identifies two root causes: the paper-based examination system (which creates physical leak points from printing to distribution) and the near-total absence of meaningful punishment for perpetrators. He argues that because the financial reward is Rs 30-50 lakh per leak and jail time is virtually nonexistent — as demonstrated by the Supreme Court's limited response to 2024 — the incentive structure actively encourages repeat offenses. He calls for a shift to computerized, randomized exams (drawing parallels to EVM usage and Digital India) and advocates for public, exemplary punishment of guilty parties to serve as a deterrent.
He closes with a pointed critique of student and parental apathy, arguing that the culture of quietly clearing exams and emigrating abroad enables the rot to continue. He challenges NEET aspirants who consider themselves apolitical to recognize that systemic issues require civic engagement, and warns that without public pressure and accountability, brain drain will accelerate and the country's future will remain compromised.
Key Insights
- Banerjee argues that NEET has been leaked three times — in 2021, 2024, and 2026 — not twice as widely reported, and claims an organization that allows the country's most premier medical entrance exam to be leaked thrice would face severe punishment in any other country.
- Banerjee contends that the 2026 leak likely originates at the question-framing level itself, not just during printing or distribution, because a 150-page PDF with 410 questions — 130 of which appeared identically on the exam — was circulating weeks before the test, defeating all GPS, biometric, and CCTV security measures installed post-2024.
- Banerjee claims that approximately 50 documented paper leak instances have occurred in India over the last five years, affecting the futures of 1.5 crore students, and argues this has become 'more the rule rather than an exception' rather than an isolated failure.
- Banerjee argues that the incentive structure itself drives repeat leaks: because perpetrators can earn Rs 30-50 lakh per leak and the Supreme Court's response to 2024 resulted in no jail time — only a retest for 1,500 students — anyone rational would take the chance.
- Banerjee challenges NEET students who identify as apolitical, arguing that their culture of quietly clearing exams and planning to leave the country enables systemic corruption, and links this to the broader brain drain crisis that even the government is now lamenting.
Topics
Full transcript available for MurmurCast members
Sign Up to Access