Rajesh Kumar mourns Pradeep as Neet is voided after leak allegations
Rajesh Kumar cried over his son’s chemistry book in Jhunjhunu district, Rajasthan, after India voided neet on May 12 because of allegations of a paper leak. Pradeep, 21, had believed he had become a doctor after taking the exam on May 3.
Nearly 2.3 million test-takers appeared for the exam across India and at centres in Doha, Dubai, Singapore and Kathmandu. NEET scores decide who can enter undergraduate medical colleges and which schools they qualify for, so the cancellation sent students back into uncertainty over admissions.
Rajesh Kumar and Pradeep
Rajesh said Pradeep had spent five years preparing for the test, including the final two years of high school, and had taken NEET twice before without getting the marks needed to qualify. His coaching over three years cost more than 500,000 rupees, and Rajesh sold his ancestral land and exhausted almost all his savings to pay for it.
“Papa, this time I have become a doctor,” Rajesh recalled Pradeep saying after walking out of the examination hall. Rajesh also cried, “O mharo beta… O mharo doctor beta… wapas aa ja. Thari kitaaban thane bula ri hain. Ab main inka kya karun?”
May 12 cancellation
The government’s May 12 decision voided the NEET held nine days earlier and set up another test later. More than 2 million aspiring doctors were affected by the cancellation, which came after allegations of a paper leak.
The pressure around NEET has been intensified by the competition for less than 130,000 spots in medical colleges. Private medical colleges charge more than $100,000, placing them beyond the reach of most Indian families, while public-funded schools remain heavily subsidised.
Four student deaths
Four students who appeared for the exam died by suicide after the cancellation. Pradeep was among the families pulled into that wider grief, with his uncle Shrawan Kumar among the relatives left to answer what the result meant after years of preparation and spending.
Students now face a second round of testing after the cancellation, but the immediate result is already clear: the May 3 scores no longer stand, and the path to a medical college seat has been pushed back for nearly 2.3 million test-takers.
