New Delhi, June 20 (IANS) The National Testing Agency (NTA) on Saturday responded to the controversy surrounding a NEET-UG 2026 candidate from Nagpur who was allotted an examination centre in Abu Dhabi, stating that its web-activity records indicate that the city change was made through the candidate’s own registered login during the correction window.

However, the agency added that despite the circumstances, it accepted the aspirant’s request and processed a change of examination centre.

NTA took to social media ‘X’ and said, “Reference the issue with regard to allotment of a centre in Abu Dhabi to a candidate in Nagpur, NTA would like to state: Following the rescheduling of NEET (UG) 2026 to 21 June, the National Testing Agency reopened the examination-city correction window to assist candidates.”

The agency highlighted that nearly 3.2 lakh candidates used the correction facility and that more than 99.5 per cent were allotted their preferred examination cities.

Addressing the Abu Dhabi query, the NTA stated, “NTA’s web-activity records indicate that the city change in this case was made through the candidate’s own registered login during the open correction window, with a consistent single-user access pattern.”

The agency further said that it received an informal request on the evening of June 19 just 48 hours before the examination to shift the centre from Abu Dhabi to Nagpur.

“NTA personnel immediately initiated the change and contacted the candidate’s father on 19th evening itself to help them complete the formal process,” the statement said.

According to the NTA, its records show that the examination centre was changed to Abu Dhabi once using the candidate’s credentials and was previewed twice thereafter.

“NTA has observed that on 3 occasions, one – the centre was changed to Abu Dhabi using candidate’s credentials and twice it was previewed that the centre is Abu Dhabi. Despite that NTA has accorded to aspirant’s request and the change of centre was actioned. A “Student-First” Approach: The NTA’s priority is that no candidate misses the examination over an administrative doubt,” it added.

The controversy emerged after Abdullah Talib, a resident of Nagpur, was reportedly allotted an examination centre in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, for the Re-NEET UG 2026 examination scheduled for June 21.

According to the family, Abdullah had selected Nagpur, Wardha, and Bhandara as his preferred examination cities while filling out the application form. However, when the admit card was issued, it displayed an examination centre in Abu Dhabi instead of any location in Maharashtra.

The apparent administrative error caused considerable distress to the student and his family, especially with only a day remaining before the re-examination. Notably, Abdullah had appeared for the earlier NEET examination at a centre in Nagpur.

The situation became even more alarming because the student does not possess a passport, making overseas travel impossible.

The incident quickly gained traction on social media, with students and parents raising concerns over how such a significant error could occur in one of the country’s largest and most competitive entrance examinations.

–IANS

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