Karnataka Minister for Medical Education, Skill Development, and Livelihood, Sharanprakash R Patil, strongly criticised the recent NEET alleged question paper leak, calling it a grave injustice to the entire student community, and the Central Government has sabotaged the futures of thousands of students who dream of becoming doctors.
The Minister demanded that the Union Minister concerned must resign over this latest debacle, and that the investigation must be conducted under the direction of a court of law.
Speaking at a press conference held at Vikasa Soudha on Saturday, the Minister said Karnataka’s Common Entrance Test (CET) is a far superior model to NEET and should be adopted nationally, according to a release.
“The state has urged the Central Government on multiple occasions to consider this, but those appeals have gone unheeded,” he said.
“The Central Government’s haphazard conduct of NEET has completely eroded public trust,” he stated.
The Minister also expressed his lack of confidence in the CBI, which is currently probing the scandal, stating that a transparent investigation under its watch is unlikely.
This scandal appears to have been orchestrated to enable the sale of MBBS seats, and there are strong suspicions that powerful individuals are behind the entire affair, he added.
Seeing state BJP leaders defend the NEET question paper leak scandal makes it abundantly clear that they have no shame or sense of decency, the Minister said sharply, as per the release.
Paper leaks are something the BJP has become notorious for. Under the previous BJP government, there was the PSI recruitment scandal and now comes the NEET scandal. Misleading and exploiting the youth seems to be the BJP’s defining pursuit, said Sharanprakash Patil.
The NEET-UG exam has been mired in controversy, sparking nationwide protests from students and opposition political parties demanding a fair probe and systemic reforms to maintain the integrity of competitive examinations.
Meanwhile, investigating the paper leak, which led to the cancellation of the exam held on May 3, the Central Bureau of Investigation said it has identified and arrested the kingpin involved in the case.
According to the CBI, the accused, identified as PV Kulkarni, is a Chemistry lecturer associated with the examination process on behalf of the National Testing Agency and allegedly had access to the NEET-UG 2026 question papers.
CBI has said that its investigation revealed that during the last week of April 2026, Kulkarni, along with another accused, Manisha Waghmare, organised special coaching classes for selected students at his residence in Pune. Waghmare was arrested by the CBI on May 14.
“During these coaching sessions, he dictated questions along with options and correct answers. The questions handwritten by students in their notebooks exactly matched the actual Chemistry paper of the NEET-UG 2026 examination conducted on May 3, 2026,” the CBI said.
Meanwhile, the National Students’ Union of India (NSUI) members held a protest outside the office of the National Testing Agency following the cancellation of the NEET-UG 2026 examination.
The NSUI members carried a lock and chain symbolising the shutting down of NTA, held placards and raised slogans criticising NTA, and Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan over the irregularities and calling for justice for the aspirants. Accusing the Centre and NTA of incompetence, they demanded a ban on the agency and the resignation of the Education Minister amid the ongoing probe in the case.
Several of these protestors were detained by the police after a scuffle broke out with the protesting members.
The re-examination will be conducted on June 21. As a corrective measure, the Education Minister has announced that the NEET-UG exam will be held via CBT mode from next year.