Medical Paper Leak Leads to Chaos; Girls Shine in PSEB Class 12 Results

May

2026

After the students took India’s most coveted undergraduate medical entrance exam—the National Eligibility-cum-Entrance Test (NEET)—news came that the question papers had leaked. In 2026, India’s National Testing Agency (NTA) had conducted the NEET exam across 551 Indian cities and 14 overseas centers on 3 May, with nearly 2.3M registered candidates. According to the NTA, information regarding alleged malpractice was received on the evening of 7 May which lead to a nationwide chaos with students emerging on streets to protest and three students commiting suicide. The Central Bureau of Investigation took over the investigation leading to the arrest of nine people so far, including Pune-based Professor PV Kulkarni and teacher Manisha Gurunath Mandhare—allegedly the ‘sources’ of the leak. Kulkarni had served on panels involved in setting the NEET question paper for years. The NEET exam has been cancelled, to be held again on 21 Jun. Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi held the Narendra Modi-led Bharatiya Janata Party government responsible for repeated examination paper leaks and asked for the sacking of Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan. A student protestor said, ‘In the last 10 years under the Modi government, there have been 89 instances of paper leaks. The union government, NTA, and the ministries have failed to conduct even a single NEET exam without irregularities.’ Panjab Health and Family Welfare Minister Dr. Balbir Singh criticized NTA for losing credibility and failing to conduct a fool proof medical entrance examination. Meanwhile, girls topped the Punjab School Education Board (PSEB) 2026 Class 12 with three of them scoring a perfect 100%. Leading the toppers is Supneet Kaur from Mansa district. Additionally, a controversy has erupted in Panjab after Army Public Schools sent out messages to the parents asking them to submit a consent form if they wanted their wards to study Panjabi language. As per the message, the language will be taught and a dedicated teacher will be provided only if sufficient numbers of students opt for it. The move is aimed at standardizing the curriculum across Army schools nationwide but violates Punjab’s language law according to which Panjabi is mandatory as a subject up to Class 10 in all schools operating in the state (earlier coverage).