Chandigarh: Punjab chief minister Bhagwant Singh Mann on Sunday claimed that no recruitment examination paper had leaked in the state since his govt came to power, contrasting it with repeated controversies over national examinations while highlighting the performance of Punjab govt school students in NEET 2026.Addressing a felicitation ceremony for NEET qualifiers at Zirakpur, Mann said the recent Pharmacy Officer recruitment controversy was a cheating racket, not a paper leak, and asserted that his govt acted swiftly by arresting 21 accused.“The country witnessed paper leaks in 2017, 2024 and now again in 2026. This is unacceptable,” he said, alleging that repeated leaks in national examinations had demoralised deserving students.
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Mann said 882 students from Punjab govt schools qualified NEET this year, up from 82 in 2022, and described the achievement as evidence of improvements in the state’s education system. He also congratulated Punjab’s Aryan Gupta for securing All India Rank 1.Claiming that recruitment in Punjab was based solely on merit, the chief minister said more than 68,000 govt jobs had been provided during his tenure without political influence or bribery.He attributed the improvement in govt school results to initiatives such as the Punjab Academic Coaching for Excellence (PACE) programme, teacher training, recruitment of over 28,000 permanent teachers, establishment of computer laboratories in 5,012 schools and installation of 8,268 interactive panels.According to the state govt, Punjab govt schools have produced 2,166 NEET qualifiers and 786 JEE qualifiers over the past three years. Of the 882 students who qualified NEET this year, 686 are girls and 340 belong to the Scheduled Caste community.
