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Informist, Friday, May 29, 2026

 

NEW DELHI – The Narendra Modi government's move to use the Indian Air Force to transport question papers for the National Eligibility cum Entrance Test in order to stop any leak of the question paper has drawn criticism from opposition leaders, who termed the move an admission of incompetence by the central government   

 

The National Eligibility cum Entrance Test is an all-India pre-medical entrance examination conducted by the National Testing Agency. This year's exam, held on May 3, was cancelled on May 12 after reports of paper leak emerged.

 

At a meeting on Thursday between Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan and Communications Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia, the proposal to involve the Indian Air Force in transporting question papers for the re-test, scheduled for Jun. 21, was discussed and approved.

 

"This is a shameful admission of governance failure," said Shiv Sena (UBT) Rajya Sabha member Sanjay Raut. "Defence Minister chairing meetings with Education Minister for basic logistics? Our armed forces protect borders, not cover up NTA and Education Ministry's incompetence," Raut said, asking the government to "fix the rotten system, punish the guilty, and stop this military band-aid".

 

Reacting to the development, Rashtriya Janata Dal Rajya Sabha legislator Manoj Jha said India would be the only nation where defence forces are engaged in "conducting examinations and transferring papers". He asked the government to first "apologise" to students who suffered trauma due to the paper leak.

 

Jammu & Kashmir Peoples Democratic Party leader Iltija Mufti said that despite the government's sheer incompetence, as long as Muslims were the "lynch bait", the public doesn't care. "Now Air Force planes will transport the NEET papers. Imagine the sheer level of corruption, incompetence and ineptitude. But as long as Muslims become lynch bait, click bait and rage bait, general public is happy!" she posted on X.

 

Priyanka Chaturvedi, a former Rajya Sabha MP from Shiv Sena (UBT), sarcastically suggested the use of Navy submarines to take answer sheets for scanning and uploading to servers for on-screen marking. "Chronology samajhiye: Army picks up the NEET exam paper from the printing centre, Army bullet proof vehicles take them to the nearest airbase, IAF then flies these papers to all destinations… Jai ho sarkar!" she wrote on X.

 

The Supreme Court will hear the NEET paper leak case on Friday. The petitioners have sought the dissolution of the National Testing Agency and a probe by the Central Bureau of Investigation into the alleged leak.  End

 

Reported by Asim Khan

Edited by Avishek Dutta

 

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