The Communist Party of India (Marxist) demanded the scrapping of the National Testing Agency and the resignation of Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan on Saturday.
This demand follows allegations of a paper leak during the NEET-UG 2026 examination. The situation highlights growing concerns over the integrity of national standardized testing in India and the accountability of the agency responsible for conducting them.
The CPI(M) cited the alleged leak of the NEET-UG 2026 exam paper as the primary driver for their call to abolish the agency [3]. The party said the National Testing Agency has experienced at least four separate leakage incidents since its inception [2].
According to the party, these recurring breaches indicate systemic problems within the organization. The National Testing Agency was established in 2017 [1] to standardize the process of conducting entrance examinations for various higher education institutions across the country.
Critics argue that the repeated failure to secure examination materials undermines the meritocratic process for millions of students. The CPI(M) said the pattern of leaks demonstrates that the agency is no longer fit to manage high-stakes assessments.
The party specifically called for the resignation of Dharmendra Pradhan, the Union Education Minister, as a matter of accountability for the agency's failures. The demand was issued in New Delhi, where the party sought a complete overhaul of the current testing framework to prevent future occurrences of paper leaks.
“The CPI(M) demanded the scrapping of the National Testing Agency.”
The demand for the abolition of the NTA reflects a deepening crisis of confidence in India's centralized examination system. By linking the NEET-UG 2026 allegations to a history of four prior leaks, the CPI(M) is framing the issue not as an isolated technical failure, but as a systemic collapse of institutional security that necessitates a change in leadership and a total restructuring of how national exams are administered.
