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The ongoing investigation into the medical entrance examination paper leak has exposed a massive network involving coaching centers, teachers, and consultancy groups.
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00:00Hello everyone, you're watching NewsTrack with me, Maria Shaqeem.
00:04The neat paper leak is no longer just a breach.
00:08It's now a web of players stretching from classrooms to coaching hubs.
00:15And at the center of this is a mastermind whose name is PV Kulkarni.
00:21Around him, teachers, trainers, ex-aspirants,
00:26and a consultancy network as well that investigators believe
00:29helped move the paper from buyer to buyer.
00:34In fact, a new player known among students as M. Sir,
00:40who has built one of Maharashtra's largest coaching institutes
00:44from a small tuition setup in Latur, is also under the scanner.
00:49And as gurus allegedly turn exam fixers,
00:54the question now is, are there deeper links to the very system
00:58meant to protect this exam, including those connected to the NTA ecosystem?
01:03Amidst growing concerns over the credibility of India's largest medical entrance examination,
01:09a parliamentary panel has now summoned National Testing Agency's
01:13Chairperson Pradeep Joshi to provide an update on the ongoing investigation
01:18into the neat UG-2026 paper leak case.
01:22Before I bring in the guests, here's a report.
01:35Leak after leak.
01:38Betrayal after betrayal.
01:42First 2024.
01:48Now 2026.
01:51At the centre of it all,
01:53the students.
01:57The unneat fiasco has shaken the country again,
02:02sending ripples of anger,
02:04doubt,
02:04and disbelief across lakhs of aspirants.
02:16no assurance seems enough to calm the growing chaos faith in the system is cracking one leak
02:26many accused teachers coaching centers officials linked with the testing agency
02:34but where is accountability as questions grow sharper the neat leak probe is no longer just
02:43about a paper breach it is turning into a full-blown organized racket the cbi probe is
02:51widening by the day and what is uncovering is deeply unsettling at the center kingpin pv kulkarni
03:01who's a chemistry professor linked to him is a latur based coaching center owner shivraj
03:08motegaunkar m sir as everyone calls him is the founder of renugai careers center one of
03:15maharashtra's largest need and je coaching networks a massive institute with nearly 20 000 students
03:24and a turnover of over 100 crore rupees investigators suspect motegaunkar may have accessed the neat ug
03:33question paper nearly 10 days before the exam and then allegedly circulated it further
03:41shockingly mock test papers from the institute are set to closely match the actual neat paper
03:46and the trail does not end there from biology teacher manisha mandhare and beautician manisha
03:53vagmare to dhananjay lokhande and ayurveda practitioner dr omkar shingote then to shubham khernar who
04:00purchased the guest paper for 10 lakh rupees it then moves through yash yadav to mangilal biwal and
04:08it's a clear chain from source to sellers to buyers and with two accused reportedly linked to the nta ecosystem
04:18the biggest question now looms large was the system itself compromised from within
04:28back in 2017 the union cabinet created nta to ensure fair secure and leak-proof exams
04:36an independent body meant to protect the future of india's students
04:43but today that promise that very promise stands shaken
04:50the need controversy now the second major one in two years has raised serious questions
04:55about the agency's credibility and control
05:02meanwhile the political storm intensifies rahul gandhi is demanding education minister dharmen
05:36indra pradhan's resignation
05:56the government has countered reiterating that student welfare remains its top priority
06:27a parliamentary panel has now summoned nta chair person pradheep joshi
06:37a system under pressure
06:42a future under doubt
06:45at the heart of it all millions of students asking many questions
06:50who do we trust now where do we go for justice
06:58and who will fix this corrupt cheating factory
07:05with the best thing arvind oja aastha bhaardwaj india today
07:12after that comprehensive report let me bring in the guests who are joining me now sujata rao
07:17is the former health secretary we have the former ips officer and two students
07:24so you know sujitsutat are invited who ready to participate in about who are you going to
07:33who do you trust in the future that we want to trust the administration to this
07:52Students invest all day, night, sleepless nights, they sacrifice everything, but we get nothing.
08:00We get unfairness, malpractices, so it's impossible to trust.
08:06Huge disappointment in your words and your voice there, Krithi.
08:10Suman, tell us about it.
08:12Is there a doubt that you will give an exam, there will be no cheating in that?
08:18Will it be free and fair?
08:21No, ma'am, I don't have any trust in that in 2024, we will again repeat in 2026.
08:28And I don't know, when it is a re-exam, it will be repeated, so it will be zero.
08:35They have no faith, Sujata Rao.
08:37An institution which was built in 2018, conducted its first exams then.
08:43So what has it really achieved?
08:46If not, it has created a web of corrupt people.
08:52You know, the NTA is not really designed to conduct such a pen-to-paper kind of exam.
08:59It was created to do it online type of examinations.
09:03But I personally feel that the NTA is not even structured for conducting such important higher education and professional education
09:14examinations.
09:15So, you know, I personally feel that this whole NEAT exam should be decentralized.
09:22It's too risky to have one cheating and the entire 22 lakhs student suffering.
09:29It can be decentralized to the state level.
09:32And those states who feel they don't have the capacity, let them ask the government of India and they can
09:38get it done by the CBSE or a committee or a board like the CBSE, which is autonomous and statutory
09:45and government owned.
09:46But this kind of a nonsense society that they've made of NTA with all kinds of outsourcing and this kind
09:54of structure is not at all fit for the kind of examinations that we have to have.
10:01And I can assure you, if they don't do this kind of reform, you will have this cheating again next
10:07year and the year after that.
10:09The stakes are too high.
10:11Please do remember that, you know, with this NEAT exam, we've given rise to a huge stakeholder like the coaching
10:18industry, which is worth 60,000 crores a year.
10:23Now, do you think the political nexus won't be there?
10:26You think the NTA won't be having a nexus with it?
10:28You think they will really have a fair examination when stakes are so high?
10:33Of course, the coaching industry and everybody has a vested interest to see that this kind of cheating continues and
10:40they make more and more money and extract more and more.
10:43You have actually given a number to how widespread the coaching industry is, which is worth 50,000 crores.
10:51That's what we are looking at, Yeshwarda Nazar.
10:54That's what the stakes are.
10:57You know, if the stakes are so high, that's why we are seeing these coaching institutes, multiple teachers, exam paper
11:06setters, all of them being involved in it, and also people who are within the NTA.
11:11So, the system is corrupt, and one thread is leading to another.
11:17It's a chain which has been established, but I'm sure the chain has been established over years.
11:23So, when you look at the CBI investigation, do you think the CBI investigation is raising more questions than perhaps
11:30answers right now?
11:32First of all, you know, it's very strange that after the lives of virtually 24 lakh students, you know, are
11:41in jeopardy.
11:41People are talking about some CBI pickings of some teacher here or some teacher there.
11:48You know, in actual practice, the NTA is a third-rate organization, right, headed by some IAS officer just brought
11:56in from anywhere.
11:56And therefore, the last IAS officer went to Ministry of Steel after his failure in 2024, and now he's cooling
12:05his heels and enjoying everything as the CM's secretary in Chhattisgarh.
12:10And then after that, for a year and a half, it was run by a retired officer who was with
12:16the ITPO, and this was an extra charge.
12:19And now this new gentleman who has come, has come about two months back.
12:23The question is, in 2024, there was a high-powered committee.
12:27It gave its recommendations.
12:29The parliamentary committee said exactly what is wrong with it.
12:32So, what I'm saying is, whether there are coaching institutes, that corruption is a matter of systemic thing in India.
12:39The point is, what did the NTA do about it?
12:43There are so many things which are involved in this.
12:46And I'll tell you another thing, Maria, that even if you go into a computer-based system, what did the
12:52last DG say?
12:53DG said that we don't have the capacity to have tests for more than 1.5 lakh students.
13:01Fine.
13:02So, the proposal has gone to the education ministry and the health ministry.
13:06So, what are the secretaries of education and health doing?
13:09What were Dharmendra Pradhan and J.P. Nadda doing, apart from installations and going for these various elections?
13:17Now, what is happening is, if you even have the infrastructure for the computer-based system,
13:23there are many, many gaps and vulnerabilities.
13:27There is a hacking problem.
13:28So, people inside, if they are compromised, you can do nothing about it.
13:35And therefore, my last point, you were talking about what will CBI do?
13:39CBI will go through the normal pickings.
13:41Last time, what happened?
13:42There was one Sandeep Makya from Bihar.
13:46EOW, Economic Offences Wing, caught him.
13:49There were six other people who were caught.
13:51Ultimately, nothing has happened so far.
13:53And therefore, I agree with these students, these poor students, who are saying that they have no faith into the
14:00system.
14:00Get a proper man.
14:03Get an IIT professor who knows about software, who can do this technology thing.
14:09Only then, there are ways when you can improve this and make it a computer-based.
14:14So, Jhantara, you know, the proposal now is that it will be a computerized examination.
14:20It will go online completely.
14:22Then, my question would be that when the leaks happened, after that, what was done to ensure that there is
14:30transparency
14:31and at the same time that the exam become leak-free, paper leak which has happened,
14:39could that have been prevented is the question here.
14:44No, I don't think, I mean, just because you have a computer system, you can hack into it.
14:49I mean, as, you know, Mr. Azad was saying, the integrity matters a lot.
14:54And people who are guiding this whole organization need to have some kind of an experience of conducting an exam.
15:02They have to be educationists.
15:04They have to be involved with the whole process and understand.
15:07Now, they've just recently posted another two joint secretaries who are from, I think, income tax and some other central
15:14service.
15:15I mean, I don't think they've ever seen, barring after the UPSC exam, ever seen an examination hall.
15:21So, you know, you just are so casual and nonchalant about the whole process that you appoint anybody, any place,
15:31any time and expect a whole exam like this to be done properly.
15:35Coming back to electronic, I mean, the, you know, the online exam, of course, computers do lend some amount of
15:44security if it is done well.
15:46But as Mr. Azad was saying, then you need to get experts.
15:49I somehow don't have any confidence in this NTA structure at all.
15:54It's a society.
15:55It is accountable to nobody.
15:57It's not audited.
15:58But, Sujata, the same system did function well till 2024.
16:04It was only in 2024 that we came to know about the first set of paper leaks.
16:08No, Trevor, no, you're wrong.
16:09There have been 70 leaks before that.
16:12See, nobody really bothered.
16:15And there have been 70.
16:16Consistently, it's a failed system.
16:19This whole business of centralized examination being conducted by a society.
16:24I mean, where in the world would you have this kind of a system?
16:28Please tell me.
16:29So, you know, I don't know what the whole game is.
16:33I cannot guess it.
16:35But it's very, very wrong.
16:37And what's happening is just simply not fair.
16:40Because as a health person, what I'm looking at is what is the outcome that's coming.
16:45I mean, you give admission to people who are getting minus 40 marks in chemistry.
16:51Just not only this, for bogus exam, where you're getting these cheats, getting into the best medical colleges.
16:59Obviously, they're duffers.
17:00If they're cheating, they haven't understood anything in the subject.
17:03And they get high ranks and they get into the best medical colleges.
17:08I'm going to go back to the students.
17:10What kind of doctors?
17:11Because I want to get the last word from them.
17:14Trying to understand how disappointed you are.
17:19Kriti Shree, you heard from former health secretary.
17:22You have also heard from a former IPS officer.
17:25Of course, they have raised several questions.
17:27As you head for the exams in a few days from now, how is your preparation looking?
17:32And is there also a sense of despondency among the students?
17:36That, you know, you have to prepare.
17:37You have to go through that churn, that effort that you have to make in preparation.
17:42And then here is the leak.
17:45How do you guarantee that perhaps when the first time your exams did go well, even this
17:51time the exams will be fine?
17:54Of course, there's no guarantee about it.
17:56It's always about the luck we play.
18:00Because years of preparation and hard work go by.
18:02The exam is really very emotionally and mentally exhausting.
18:06And we go and perform at those three hours.
18:10And there's no guarantee that we'll perform the same or study the same.
18:16We get into the same momentum which we were for years.
18:20So, it's difficult.
18:22You wish to ask one question to her, Sujatera?
18:25No, no.
18:26I'm just agreeing with her totally.
18:28I can understand her trauma and I feel totally empathetic with her at the moment.
18:33I think it's extremely important now to sort of take care of the rot in the system.
18:42And, you know, it depends on the institutions and it depends on the persons.
18:46I agree with Mrs. Rao when she says that this system was not designed to have such exams.
18:52But I'll also tell you another thing.
18:54Had Mrs. Sujatera Rao been the Secretary of Health today, the NTS system would have changed
19:00and they would have gone back either to a decentralized system or to a computer-based system.
19:07What we need today are persons at the CBI who can actually get through this conspiracy, which is important.
19:15You know, catching a teacher here.
19:17Suppose that teacher was caught about seven days back.
19:19Now, what did he get out of it?
19:21He had some access.
19:22But the preparation of the exams, the exam papers were prepared just one day before or so.
19:29So, therefore, the leak has to be traced right from the beginning.
19:33That's why the first question which you asked about the CBI, I would be very, very hopeful that they go
19:40through the entire process so that they get the conspirators.
19:43No, but what is the process here?
19:46Right now, what it seems is that the chain is still being unraveled.
19:51And I'm sure, you know, Mr. Azad, you would agree that given how big this industry is, 50,000 crore,
20:01as Sujatera Rao was estimating it to be, there would be several more coaching centers that would be involved.
20:08Of course, of course.
20:08You know, because those advertisements that come out in papers that need UG, they have a toppers in it.
20:16I'm sure many are good students, many deserve those positions, but many positions are also fixed.
20:24Absolutely.
20:25There are specialized cheating centers.
20:27And I'll tell you the case of Seeker, for example, in 2024, when out of 40, out of 50 centers,
20:34they gave the maximum highest marks to the students.
20:37And this is, you know, known all over.
20:39And that's why my last point is, even if you have a computer-based system, you know, the coaching institutes
20:46have such a lot of stake, as Mrs. Rao rightly said,
20:49that everything will be tried, hacking the system, breaking into the system, and trying to get anything out of it.
20:57And that is why you have to create an NTA, which is leak-proof, an NTA which is without conspiracy,
21:03and it has the right people to manage.
21:06Leak-proof NTA, it may be, you know, a distant dream here.
21:12How do you make NTA leak-proof, Sujatera Rao?
21:15No, no, Maria, you know, there are systems that have to be put in place.
21:20And that's why I go back to saying that you have to have educationists, people who have conducted exams associated
21:26with this whole process.
21:28You just can't have any old IAS officer from somewhere to come and sit there and run an exam.
21:33It's not, you're not conducting an auction.
21:35Now, the reason is, look at this Mr. Kulkarni.
21:38He's been in the panel as an examiner for so many years.
21:42I've never heard of it.
21:43I was commissioner of school education, and I had to conduct the public exam for the high school in Andhra
21:48Pradesh.
21:49There's no way we would have had the same teacher setting the examination year after year after year.
21:55There are systems like pooling in questions from different, nobody, you know, the intense amount of confidentiality.
22:01That's actually very important for us.
22:03The confidentiality that you have to have.
22:05How can you, I mean, I'm just appalled by the whole thing.
22:09And I have a feeling there's much more to it than what we are reading in the newspapers.
22:13Okay.
22:14Priti, 30 seconds quickly.
22:16How's your preparation going?
22:18Study hard.
22:19All right.
22:20I'm trying to, like, do it properly.
22:25It's very difficult to be on the same momentum as I was before.
22:30So, yeah.
22:31I wish you luck, certainly.
22:33I wish you more hard work as well.
22:35Because these are critical times for all students.
22:37So, really appreciate your time.
22:39Sujata Rao, pleasure having you on my shows.
22:41Yeshwarda Nazar, thank you for joining us.
22:43Suman Meena and Kriti Shree wishing you all the best as you continue with the preparation.
22:48That's all from me.
22:49We'll continue to put the spotlight on NEAT investigation as it unfolds and unravels across the country.
22:55That's all from me on this edition.
22:57Thanks so much for watching and I'll be seeing you tomorrow.
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