New Delhi, June 21 (IANS) It was a virtual redemption day for the National Testing Agency on Sunday as the NEET (UG) 2026 retest was conducted without major glitches, with the Agency crediting the whole-of-government effort involving 7 lakh officials for making the exam for 20 lakh aspirants error-free.

“Team NTA. Team Bharat. One exam, delivered together,” said the NTA in a post on X, reaffirming its commitment to uphold the sanctity of the medical admission test whose previous round on May 3 was forced to be cancelled due to irregularities.

The NTA highlighted the effort put in on Sunday, showcasing the whole-of-government effort, the scale of it and the care for 10,000 disabled candidates that went into the successful conduct of the exam.

In a message on X, the NTA said, “Around 7 lakh officials – police teams, observers and examination staff – were mobilised across India to conduct this examination, and it was done in a record 37 days.”

“NTA is especially grateful to the experts from academic institutions across the country who gave their personal time to help prepare multiple sets of question papers,” it said.

“More than 20 lakh aspirants. One exam. A country’s administrative machinery – ministerial, bureaucratic, police, district and local – aligned behind a single day, so that each candidate could simply sit down and write,” it said.

“To every candidate who wrote on 21 June – well done. And to everyone who made it possible: thank you. Team NTA. Team Bharat. One exam, delivered together,” said the NTA.

Sharing details about the scale, the NTA said that more than 20 lakh candidates sat for the NEET (UG) 2026 re-examination across 5,440 centres in India and 14 centres abroad.

“The paper was administered in 13 languages, including Hindi and English. Today, we look back at the people and the coordination that made that day possible,” it said.

“This was not the National Testing Agency acting alone. It was Team Bharat – a chain of people across the country who showed up so that, for each candidate, the only thing that mattered that morning was the paper in front of them,” it said.

The NTA took special care of candidates with disability. It said extensive arrangements were made for all candidates, including more than 10,000 Persons with Disabilities.

“Special arrangements were put in place for around 81 candidates with medical conditions, among them a child who had been in a road accident, and a child undergoing chemotherapy, who were determined not to miss an exam they had prepared for years. Reaching each of them took planning that no candidate ever sees,” said the NTA.

The security arrangements for a fair and transparent test included Aadhaar-based biometric and face authentication, CCTV monitoring, jammers, and two-layer frisking with the support of State Police were in place across centres.

“Command and control centres for CCTV monitoring were established at the national level – at the NTA and at the Ministry of Education, at 34 Centrally Funded Institutions of the Department of Higher Education, in every State, and at District Collectorates,” it said.

The conduct of the examination drew on the support of CAPF, the Ministry of External Affairs, the Department of Posts, the Indian Air Force, the Ministry of Home Affairs, the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, Ministry Of Railways, NIC, MeitY, the Department of Financial Services, the Ministry of Defence, the Ministry of Education, and our banking partners – SBI, Canara Bank, PNB and UCO Bank, alongside State Governments and many other stakeholders, it said.

The NTA also appreciated the efforts put in by state governments for making special arrangements for students and parents – shade, water and food at centres, ambulances and medical facilities on standby.

–IANS

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