“After hearing about the Abu Dhabi centre, my son went into shock. He is currently sleeping after taking medication. Whenever we try to talk to him, he breaks down and starts crying,” father said.
NEW DELHI — A major administrative lapse has come to light ahead of the Re-NEET UG 2026 examination, after a candidate from Maharashtra’s Nagpur was reportedly allotted an examination centre in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, due to an apparent error in the admit card issued by the National Testing Agency (NTA).
The incident has sparked concern among students and parents just a day before the re-examination scheduled for June 21. According to the student’s family, Abdullah had selected Nagpur, Wardha, and Bhandara as his preferred examination cities during the application process. However, his admit card displayed an examination centre in Abu Dhabi, UAE.
Speaking to IANS on Saturday, the candidate’s father, Mohammad Talib, expressed shock and confusion over the unexpected allocation of a foreign examination centre.
“I don’t know how this has happened. Only the agency can explain it now. We had selected three preferred examination centres, but I don’t understand why they want us to go to Abu Dhabi,” he said.
Talib explained that his son, Abdullah Mohammad Talib, had appeared for the earlier NEET examination and was allotted a centre in Nagpur. According to him, the examination went smoothly and there were no irregularities in the application process or in the selection of examination centres.
“In the previous NEET exam, he got a centre in Nagpur itself. His paper went very well. There was no mistake from our side while choosing the centres. We had opted for Bhandara and two other locations, but were allotted Nagpur. We never requested any centre outside India,” he said.
The unexpected development has reportedly taken a severe emotional toll on the student.
“After hearing about the Abu Dhabi centre, my son went into shock. He is currently sleeping after taking medication. Whenever we try to talk to him, he breaks down and starts crying,” he said.
Talib further stated that NTA officials had acknowledged the issue and informed the family that the error appeared to have originated from their end.
“The officials told us that a technical glitch had occurred on their side. They assured us that they would contact us again at 4 P.M. today,” he said.
Despite the ordeal, the family remains focussed on ensuring that Abdullah gets a fair opportunity to appear for the examination.
“We only want our son to be able to sit for the exam. Whatever the result may be, that is secondary,” Talib added.
Rahul Gandhi slams NTA over NEET goof-up
Leader of Opposition (LoP) Rahul Gandhi tore into the National Testing Agency (NTA) on Saturday, over a shocking anomaly in the admit card of a NEET (National Eligibility cum Entrance Test) aspirant, just a day ahead of the re-examinations.
Coming down hard on the examination body, Rahul accused it of “gambling” with the children’s future and said that despite bungling up on the previous occasion, it didn’t get its act together, thereby burdening the already stressed children and their parents.
As the matter kicked up a row, the NTA sought to downplay the issue and assured that “the grievance is being addressed and the candidate will be allocated a centre in Nagpur, after due verification, in the next few hours.”
Rahul Gandhi expressed dismay over the embarrassing incident, happening just a day before exams, and over student’s emotional turmoil.
He said that the student, being at the receiving end of NTA’s mismanagement, cried all night and is reluctant to take the exams.
“What kind of stress is this? Can you even imagine? The NTA is actually just testing the patience of the country’s children and their parents,” Rahul said in a post on X.
Hitting out at the ‘broken’ education system, the Congress leader said that he raised the matter earlier also, during his interaction with students in Kota and said, “This is nothing but extortion of an entire generation’s money, time, and mental peace.”
Further stepping up the heat on the NTA, he said, “Stop gambling with our children’s future. They deserve a sensitive, responsible, and accountable education system and exam authority.” — IANS
