Officials meet at Pradhan’s house to finalise arrangements for NEET-UG re-exam

New Delhi: A high-level meeting was convened at Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan’s residence on the evening of May 14 to review preparations for a re-run of the NEET (UG) examination, official sources said.

Participants included Higher Education Secretary Vineet Joshi, School Education Secretary Sanjay Kumar, National Testing Agency (NTA) Director General Abhishek Singh, CBSE Chairperson Rahul Singh, and commissioners from the Kendriya Vidyalaya Sangathan and Navodaya Vidyalaya Samiti, along with other senior officials. The discussion focused on logistical and administrative arrangements for conducting the medical entrance test afresh.

The meeting follows the NTA’s announcement on Tuesday that the May 3 NEET-UG exam had been cancelled amid allegations of irregularities. The decision has left more than 22 lakh aspirants in limbo. The NTA has not yet announced new dates; DG Abhishek Singh has said the schedule for the re-examination will be revealed within “the next seven to 10 days.”

Separately, the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has taken custody of five people arrested in connection with the alleged exam leak and has detained two additional suspects. Authorities are probing the possibility of insider involvement within the NTA. A special CBI court on Thursday remanded the five accused—identified as Shubham Khairnar (Nashik), Mangilal Biwal, Vikas Biwal, Dinesh Biwal (Jaipur), and Yash Yadav (Gurugram)—to seven days’ CBI custody, noting the allegations point to an “organised gang” circulating confidential papers for financial gain.

According to the ongoing probe, the involvement of public servants has not been ruled out.

(Inputs from PTI)