NEW DELHI—The Indian government is considering shifting the National Eligibility cum Entrance Test (NEET-UG) to a computer-based format but has told the Supreme Court that no final decision will be taken until a high-level task force led by technology executive Nandan Nilekani submits its recommendations on reforms to the country's public examination system.
The Centre informed the court that the proposed transition from the current pen-and-paper, optical mark recognition (OMR)-based examination remains under review as part of a broader overhaul of examination processes following the controversy surrounding the 2026 NEET-UG examination. According to the government's submission, the Nilekani-led panel is examining measures to strengthen the security, transparency and integrity of large-scale public examinations before any policy decision is made.
The issue arose during proceedings before the Supreme Court concerning petitions related to the conduct of NEET examinations and proposals for reforms to the testing system. The government said the task force's recommendations would guide any future decision on adopting a computer-based testing (CBT) model.
The Centre has argued that any transition would require careful consideration of operational, technological and logistical issues given the scale of NEET, one of India's largest entrance examinations for undergraduate medical admissions. Millions of candidates take the examination each year for admission to medical, dental and other health science programmes across the country.
The National Testing Agency (NTA), which conducts NEET, already administers several national entrance examinations in computer-based mode, while NEET-UG has continued to be held using pen-and-paper answer sheets. The government has said examination reforms are aimed at improving security and reducing vulnerabilities following concerns over examination integrity.
The 2026 NEET cycle was marked by significant disruption after allegations of a paper leak prompted the cancellation of the original examination, a re-examination and multiple legal challenges. The NTA subsequently introduced additional security measures, while the Ministry of Education announced broader reforms to strengthen public examinations.
The Supreme Court has not directed an immediate change in the examination format. Instead, the government's latest submission indicates that the future of computer-based NEET examinations will depend on the findings of the Nilekani task force, with the matter remaining under consideration pending its report.
