The Parents Association of Andhra Pradesh (PAAP) has demanded the Central and State governments to completely shift from the ‘pen and paper’ mode to ‘computer-based test (CBT)’ for all future examinations, including NEET and EAPCET.
In a letter addressed to Union Minister of Education Dharmendra Pradhan, the PAAP members appealed that the continued use of ‘pen and paper’ mode has repeatedly led to leaks during printing, transportation and storage.
They mentioned that the recent NEET paper leak is not an isolated incident but a repetition of the 2024 scandals in Bihar and Gujarat. They alleged that a deeply entrenched institutional mafia was involved along with coaching centres, middlemen, printing presses and negligent officials.
A NEET aspirant from Vijayawada, Ch. Dheenuka, expressed the pain of lakhs of students, “As per the answer key, I was expecting 330 out of 720 marks. Now I have to prepare all over again. All our hard work and our parents’ sacrifices have gone in vain.”
PAAP president S. Narahari said, “In Andhra Pradesh alone, more than 58,000 students appeared for NEET-UG 2026 across 180 examination centres. Nationally, around 22.75 lakh students registered for the exam. Parents have spent between ₹2 lakh to ₹5 lakh per student over 1-2 years.”
“The total estimated expenditure by students of A.P. is around ₹1,500-3,000 crore. This reflects the immense sacrifice and trust placed by parents in the system. However, this trust has been repeatedly betrayed due to systemic failures and alleged nexus between the people behind the leaks and NTA officials,” he said.
In another letter to A.P. Education Minister Nara Lokesh, the PAAP members urged to conduct the EAMCET and other exams with high standard of security. They also requested the implementation of foolproof technical safeguards such as encrypted question bank and real-time monitoring.
Published - May 13, 2026 07:43 pm IST