In a June 4th letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the Rajya Sabha MP made it clear: students are owed some answers. The kind of behind-closed-doors probes we’ve seen since the NEET-UG 2026 was called off have only added to the stress of lakhs of would-be candidates and chipped away at their trust in how things are run.
As head of the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Education, Singh sees the problem. With no one document to show what was done about the paper leaks, you can’t be blamed for the rumours. He makes the case for an open book on each case to steady nerves before the next round of testing and counselling.
Why the white paper matters for students
You won’t find a single public file on the CBI or any state agency’s work on these cases, Singh points out. That void is what has students left to wonder where the accountability is.
He is also blunt about the price of inaction. ‘The cancellation has wreaked havoc on the mental health of lakhs of students’ who had their whole year hinged on one exam date, he said.
What triggered the demand
It all comes down to the NTA’s May 12th move to scrap NEET-UG 2026, not long after 2.27 million of them had taken it in 551 cities. They did so once it was confirmed from the top that the paper was no longer secure.
Turns out, some of the questions were on phones as far back as May 1st. It’s the second time in as many years the exam’s integrity has been put in question, so the NTA has let the CBI have at it and set a retest for June 21st.
Questions raised about probes
Singh has put his finger on two things that have been on students’ minds. One is Sanjeev Kumar, the main man in the 2024 Hazaribagh leak, who is out on bail under the name Mukhiya.
Then there is the UGC-NET 2024 matter. The CBI put in a closure report saying there was nothing to it, even though the NTA had to cancel the test. When a court in Delhi asked for an accounting, the CBI stonewalled for more time, which Singh says is a poor signal to the candidates.
What the proposed white paper should contain
He is after an eight-year review, in plain English, of every infraction and how the authorities have followed up:
– A running tally of all the leaks and hiccups over the last eight years
– What the NTA and the agencies have done about them
– Who they have put in cuffs and what has become of them
– Where the probe is, be it a charge sheet or a closure
– An explanation if a case is being closed
– If the accused are on bail, in the dock, or have been made to pay
‘It will act as a confidence-building measure among our youth,’ he says, when they are under the most pressure.
Wider test system under scrutiny
The NTA was made into an autonomous body in 2018, but it has had its share of trouble. From 2018 to 2023, you had your share of technical hiccups, wrong translations, and issues with where the exams were held.
Lately it has been worse. The 2024 NEET-UG was riddled with problems. And with the UGC-NET, they had to do a full re-run in the summer of 2024 after a leak – the first of its kind for the NTA.
A panel in Parliament noted that five out of 14 of the NTA’s 2024-25 tests had some major flaw. UGC-NET, CSIR-NET and NEET-PG were put on hold. In January 2025, they had to pull 12 JEE Main questions because of errors in the key.
Students want to know they can count on a fair day and a clean result. For the rest of us, this is a litmus test for the government. How they answer his letter of the 4th will tell us if we can ever get back to trusting these national exams.
