NEW DELHI: Coming against the backdrop of recent allegations concerning the integrity of several competitive examinations in the country, the National Eligibility cum Entrance Test postgraduate or NEET-PG Entrance Examination, which was scheduled to take on Sunday, was postponed. A day before, the National Board of Examination, which conducts the examination for medical students, had cautioned against people on social media groups who were offering the question paper to aspirants for a considerable sum of money.

The Ministry of Health on Saturday said the decision has been taken as a precautionary measure to maintain the integrity of the NEET-PG Entrance Examination. The ministry said it has decided to conduct a thorough assessment of the examination processes to ensure their robustness and fairness. The fresh date for the examination will be announced at the earliest.

Facing protests in several parts of the country as well as attacks from the opposition, the Centre has removed the chief of the National Testing Agency (NTA) from his post amid the controversy over the alleged irregularities in NEET-UG and the cancellation of the UGC-NET Exam. Subodh Kumar Singh, who was the director general of the NTA has been replaced by retired Indian Administration Service (IAS) officer Pradeep Singh Kharola.

Meanwhile, Forty-eight per cent of students who were scheduled to retake the NEET-UG today did not turn up, the NTA said in a statement. After a Supreme Court order, 1,563 students who were given grace marks were eligible to take the retest today, the NTA said. Of the total, 813 (52 per cent) gave the retest and 750 skipped, according to data released by the NTA. The NTA had opened seven exam centres in Chhattisgarh, Gujarat, Haryana, Meghalaya, and Chandigarh, a Union Territory.

The retest was held on a day the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) filed a first information report (FIR) in connection with alleged irregularities in the medical entrance exam NEET-UG held on May 5. The CBI filed the case following a complaint from the Education Ministry amid protests and litigation by students for a probe into paper leak claims.

Officials said the ministry alleged in the complaint, now part of the FIR, that "certain isolated incidents" happened in a few states during the conduct of the examination. Giving top priority to the case, the CBI has formed special teams that are on their way to Godhra and Patna, where cases of question paper leaks have been filed by the police. In a separate matter, the Supreme Court sought responses from the Centre, the NTA and others on various petitions, including those seeking cancellation of the NEET-UG 2024 exam and a court-monitored investigation.