"Centre failed miserably in conducting NEET earlier, education minister should have been suspended": Telangana Minister Ponnam Prabhakar

Speaking to ANI, Prabhakar said the Telangana government had made arrangements to assist students appearing for the NEET-UG re-examination by providing free transport services across the state. The Minister further alleged that no action had been taken against those responsible for the alleged lapses and questioned why the Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan had not been held accountable.

Telangana Minister Ponnam Prabhakar on Saturday criticised the Centre over the conduct of the NEET-UG examination and said the Union government had failed to conduct the test properly earlier, necessitating the re-examination. Speaking to ANI, Prabhakar said the Telangana government had made arrangements to assist students appearing for the NEET-UG re-examination by providing free transport services across the state. The Minister further alleged that no action had been taken against those responsible for the alleged lapses and questioned why the Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan had not been held accountable.

"The central govt failed miserably in conducting the exam properly last time...we arranged for free transport in Telangana for students upon showing their hall tickets so they could reach their exam centres...no action was taken against the concerned Education Minister...he should have been suspended immediately," said Prabhakar. More than 20 lakh candidates appeared for the NEET (UG) 2026 re-examination on June 21 across 5,440 centres in India and 14 centres abroad, with the examination being conducted in 13 languages, including Hindi and English, an official release from National Testing Agency (NTA) said.

As per the NTA release, the successful conduct of the examination was the result of a coordinated effort involving multiple government agencies, institutions and personnel across the country. The NTA said extensive arrangements were made for all candidates, including more than 10,000 Persons with Disabilities. Special provisions were also made for around 81 candidates with medical conditions, including a child recovering from a road accident and another undergoing chemotherapy, to ensure they could appear for the examination.

To strengthen security and transparency, Aadhaar-based biometric and face authentication, CCTV monitoring, signal jammers and two-layer frisking with support from State Police were implemented at examination centres. Command and control centres for CCTV monitoring were established at the NTA headquarters, the Ministry of Education, 34 Centrally Funded Institutions under the Department of Higher Education, all States and District Collectorates. The examination process received support from several agencies, including the Central Armed Police Forces (CAPF), Ministry of External Affairs, Department of Posts, Indian Air Force, Ministry of Home Affairs, Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, National Informatics Centre (NIC), Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY), Department of Financial Services, Ministry of Defence, Ministry of Education and banking partners such as SBI, Canara Bank, PNB and UCO Bank, along with State Governments and other stakeholders.

The NTA also highlighted the role of State Governments in facilitating the examination by arranging shade, drinking water and food for candidates and parents at centres, keeping ambulances and medical facilities on standby, and in many cases providing free transportation for candidates on exam day. According to the agency, nearly seven lakh officials, including police personnel, observers and examination staff, were mobilised across the country to conduct the examination, which was organised within a record 37 days.

The NTA further expressed gratitude to experts from academic institutions across India who contributed their time and expertise towards preparing multiple sets of question papers for the examination. (ANI)