Medical students in India have been barred from taking leave on May 2 and 3 to prevent them from appearing as proxy candidates in the NEET-UG 2026 examination. The National Medical Commission (NMC) has advised all medical colleges not to grant leave on those days, except in exceptional circumstances.
The move comes after at least 7 MBBS students were arrested in 2024 for their involvement in cheating gangs. The National Testing Agency (NTA) will conduct the NEET-UG in a single shift in pen-and-paper mode across 551 cities and over 5,400 centres in India and abroad.
Enhanced security measures include GPS-tracked transport of question papers, double-lock strong rooms, Aadhaar-based biometric checks, and real-time monitoring through control rooms. The NTA has also put in place measures to prevent misuse of fake documents and has excluded centres linked to coaching institutions or with inadequate infrastructure.
