Chandigarh: The cancellation of the NEET examination following allegations of irregularities has triggered mixed reactions among aspirants in Chandigarh, many of whom said the decision, though emotionally exhausting, was necessary to ensure fairness in the highly competitive medical entrance test.Students who had spent years preparing for the examination said they were disappointed at having to go through the process again, but most agreed that a compromised examination would have been worse for deserving candidates.Aditya, who appeared for the May 3 NEET examination and has been preparing since Class XI, said he supported the decision to cancel the test if there were concerns regarding fairness.“Fair competition is important. Even if we have to take the exam again, it is okay,” he said, adding that his paper had gone well and he was prepared to appear once more if required.Jainit Singh, a 17-year-old student of a school in Sector 30, Chandigarh, said the controversy surrounding the examination had initially left him upset.“I felt bad at first, but if unfair means were involved, then ranks and cut-offs would have been affected badly,” he said.Jainit, whose father serves in the Army and mother is a homemaker, said students now had no option but to move ahead and prepare again. “We have prepared for this for a long time. We will try again and hopefully it will work out,” he said.Another aspirant, 18-year-old Adhyan Galhotra of SGGS Collegiate Public School, Sector 26, described the development as a “mixed feeling”.“After the exam, I had completely gone out of study mode and was enjoying a break. Suddenly getting back into preparation again is difficult,” he said.At the same time, Adhyan maintained that cancelling the exam was justified if irregularities had indeed taken place. “It is fair if the paper was compromised through wrong methods. But it also feels unfair for students who prepared honestly and performed well,” he added.He said watching his elder brother pursue MBBS at Government Medical College and Hospital continued to motivate him to pursue medicine despite the uncertainty.Gaganjot, another 18-yr-old aspirant, said the decision may help restore confidence in the system. “If even a small section got an unfair advantage, genuine students would have suffered in counselling and admissions. At least now everyone will compete on equal terms,” the student said.Pritpal Singh, a parent accompanying students at a coaching centre in Sector 34, said the repeated uncertainty had taken a mental toll on aspirants. “Students prepare for years with discipline and pressure. Reappearing is difficult emotionally, but transparency in such an important exam is necessary,” he said.Even as students prepare to return to books and mock tests once again, many aspirants said they hoped the authorities would now ensure stricter systems and a controversy-free examination process.The NTA, which conducts NEET, in a statement on X, said the decision to cancel the exam was taken in the interest of maintaining transparency and preserving trust in the national examination system.In the evening, the CBI registered a case of criminal conspiracy, cheating, criminal breach of trust, theft and destruction of evidence under Bhartiya Nyay Sanhita, offences under Prevention of Corruption Act and under the Public Examination Prevention of Unfair Means Act 2024.The agency dispatched multiple special teams to various locations and will also collect material from the Special Operations Group (SOG) of Rajasthan Police.The Rajasthan Police SOG had claimed that a “guess paper” for chemistry that was allegedly circulated among students ahead of the examination had approximately 410 questions and roughly 120 of these were in the question paper.In Maharashtra’s Nashik, a man was detained in connection with the paper leak.The examination was conducted on May 3 across 551 cities in India and 14 cities abroad with nearly 23 lakh candidates appearing nationwide with a turnout of 96.92%. In Chandigarh, NEET was held at six centres, with over 97% attendance, officials said. Out of a total of 2,854 registered candidates, 2,776 appeared for the examination.The agency said the inputs received, taken together with findings shared by law enforcement agencies, established that the “present examination process could not be allowed to stand”.
