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Protests erupt in India after key college entrance test is cancelled

By Thomson Reuters May 12, 2026 | 6:35 AM

NEW DELHI, May 12 (Reuters) – Dozens of members of the student wing of India’s opposition Congress party ​protested in New Delhi on ‌Tuesday against the cancellation of a key undergraduate college entrance test after authorities discovered its questions had been leaked.

Here are ‌some ​details.

• About 2.3 million ⁠students across India ⁠took the National Eligibility cum Entrance Test (NEET) on May 3 for admission to undergraduate medical programmes.

• The federal ​National Testing Agency scrapped the test on Tuesday, saying the process ⁠could not be ⁠allowed to stand and a ​new date would be set.

• Visuals from ​news agency ANI showed dozens of ‌protesters from the National Students’ Union of India (NSUI) chanting slogans, with some also trying to jump police barricades.

• ⁠NSUI President Vinod Jakhar demanded “strictest possible action” against those involved in leaking the questions, ⁠and the ‌resignation of Education Minister ⁠Dharmendra Pradhan, saying protesters had ​no ‌faith in the government.

• ​NEET questions ⁠had been similarly leaked in some parts of India in 2024, but the test was not re-run.

(Reporting by Sakshi Dayal; Editing by YP Rajesh and ​Kevin Liffey)