NEW DELHI: The Union Government has filed a detailed compliance affidavit before the Supreme Court outlining a comprehensive set of reforms aimed at strengthening the conduct, security and credibility of the NEET-UG examination following concerns surrounding the 2024 and 2026 examinations.
The affidavit has been filed in Writ Petition (Civil) No. 651 of 2026, Federation of All India Medical Association vs Union of India & Others, in compliance with the Supreme Court's May 29, 2026 order directing the Centre to explain how NEET could be conducted year after year while ensuring that the National Testing Agency (NTA) develops and retains institutional memory from each examination cycle.
The Centre has clarified that the NEET-UG 2026 examination conducted on May 3 is presently under investigation by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), and that the NTA is cooperating with the probe. The affidavit stresses that its submissions concern reforms and the strengthened examination framework and are not intended to address the merits of the ongoing investigation.
Multi-layered security system for NEET
The affidavit details a ten-stage security protocol covering the entire examination cycle—from question-paper setting and printing to transportation, examination-centre security, return of OMR sheets and declaration of results.
The Centre says question papers are packed in multiple layers of tamper-proof packaging with one-time-use electronic locks and unique markings. Their movement is tracked through QR codes and secure transportation, with different sets stored at different custodian banks.
On examination day, the final question-paper set is selected only shortly before the examination and the decision is communicated to a limited number of authorised personnel.
Sealed trunks are transported under the escort of executive magistrates, Central Armed Police Forces and State Police.
At examination centres, question-paper trunks are kept in CCTV-monitored strong rooms. The sealed packets are opened 45 minutes before the examination in the presence of officials and student volunteers, while candidates themselves open their tamper-proof packets.
Biometric verification, jammers and CCTV surveillance
The affidavit records stringent security arrangements at examination centres, including frisking, biometric authentication and restrictions on electronic devices.
For the June 21, 2026 NEET-UG re-conduct, the Centre says 38,795 personnel were deployed for frisking and 48,448 personnel for biometric verification involving fingerprints, facial recognition and identity authentication.
A total of 1,311 jammers were deployed, while 1,38,560 CCTV cameras covered more than 95,000 examination rooms, with feeds monitored at the national, state and ministry levels.
The government says the system is designed to ensure that the security chain continues even after the examination.
OMR answer sheets are prepared in original and carbon copies, packed separately and moved to the NTA through two independent channels before scanning and reconciliation.
NTA to get stronger institutional structure
The Centre has also informed the Supreme Court that the NTA is undergoing structural strengthening.
A dedicated government-owned office premises with controlled access has been allocated to the agency. Secure paper-setting facilities, air-gapped translation environments and a vetted panel of confidential printers are being developed.
Cybersecurity is being strengthened in consultation with CERT-In and the Indian Cyber Crime Coordination Centre, with third-party cybersecurity audits planned before every major examination cycle.
The affidavit further states that the Director General of NTA now holds the rank of Secretary to the Government of India, while two Joint Secretary-level officers have been posted to the agency as Additional Directors General. Sixteen additional senior positions—eight at Director level and eight at Joint Director level—have also been created.
Institutional memory to be formally documented
A significant part of the Centre's response to the Supreme Court focuses on creating institutional memory so that lessons from every examination are not lost with changes in personnel.
The affidavit proposes a formal Learnings Note after every examination cycle documenting challenges, actions taken and practices to be retained.
A Technical Manual for NTA is also being developed to codify psychometric methodologies, normalisation procedures, equating practices, item-bank standards and confidential-operation protocols.
A permanent Confidential Operations Vertical is proposed within NTA to retain operational knowledge relating to question-paper setting, translation, printing, transportation and custody.
The government also proposes auditable digital and paper logs, with a two-person checking mechanism for each critical action, allowing the entire examination cycle to be reconstructed and accountability to be fixed.
NEET-UG may move to computer-based mode
On the crucial question of whether NEET-UG should shift from pen-and-paper to computer-based testing, the Centre has stopped short of announcing an immediate change.
The affidavit says migration to computer-based testing—either as a single-stage examination or a two-stage model similar to JEE—is under active consideration.
The final decision, it says, will be taken after considering the recommendations of the newly constituted High-Powered Task Force on Examination Reforms headed by Nandan Nilekani, co-founder of Infosys and former chairman of UIDAI.
The Centre has also stressed that any structural change in NEET-UG would require consultation with and concurrence of the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare and the National Medical Commission, as NEET is conducted on behalf of the Health Ministry and the NMC is the apex regulator.
Nandan Nilekani-led task force gets three months
The government has separately constituted the six-member High-Powered Task Force on Examination Reforms through a July 27, 2026 notification.
Besides Nandan Nilekani, the panel includes former ISRO chairman S. Somanath, former Intelligence Bureau director Tapan Deka, IIT Madras Director V. Kamakoti, former School Education Secretary Anita Karwal and former Chief Secretary Amrit Lal Meena.
The task force has been asked to recommend reforms covering examination security, design and governance; strengthen NTA's organisational and statutory framework; explore technologies including AI and blockchain; improve accessibility and equity; and prepare a time-bound implementation roadmap.
It is required to submit its recommendations within three months of its constitution.
Re-conducted NEET-UG 2026 completed
The affidavit also places on record the re-conduct of NEET-UG 2026 on June 21.
According to the Centre, the re-examination was organised within 37 days of the decision to conduct it. The government states that the examination was held across India and abroad with the strengthened security protocol, and that the results were declared within 25 days.
The Centre has told the Supreme Court that admissions to medical colleges have proceeded without material disruption.
The affidavit comes at a crucial juncture for India's largest medical entrance examination, with the government now placing before the Supreme Court a framework that seeks to move NEET-UG from a system dependent on individual personnel and experience towards a more institutionalised, technology-driven and auditable examination architecture.
The larger question—whether NEET-UG should ultimately remain a pen-and-paper examination or migrate to a computer-based format—has, however, been left open pending recommendations of the Nilekani-led task force and consultations with the Health Ministry and National Medical Commission.
#NEETUG #NEET2026 #NTA #SupremeCourtThe report above is grounded in the uploaded affidavit; the file itself was not text-readable through the document index, so I relied on OCR of the 43-page scanned PDF.
