NEET-UG candidate reassigned to Nagpur exam centre in India

A candidate scheduled to appear for the NEET-UG re-examination reached his newly assigned examination centre at a medical college in Nagpur on Sunday. This occurred a day after it was reported that he had been initially allotted a centre in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates.

The National Testing Agency (NTA) on Saturday reassigned the examination centre to PM SHRI Kendriya Vidyalaya, Ajni, Nagpur, following concerns raised after the candidate was originally assigned a centre overseas.

The issue arose when the Nagpur-based student downloaded his admit card and discovered the centre was listed as a school in Abu Dhabi just one day before the NEET-UG 2026 examination. This sparked widespread criticism, including from the Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha, Rahul Gandhi, who questioned the handling of students’ concerns by the examination authorities.

Explaining the situation, the student’s father said, “After the admit card was downloaded at 4 pm yesterday, we found the Centre mentioned to be a school in Abu Dhabi. We were really shocked as we had not given anything as such in our options. We dialled up the helpline number. They told us to send them an email. When we sent an email, we received a call that we will be issued a fresh admit card by 4 pm on Saturday.”

He added, “We had given 3 districts as options, but we now demand that Nagpur be given to us as the Centre because he is shocked. There is no time to go to any other district. He cried a lot yesterday and did not even want to write the exam. But his mother tried to convince him. If he is convinced, he will appear for the exam. He does not even have a passport…”

In response to the issue, the NTA stated on X (formerly Twitter) that the grievance was being addressed and that the candidate would be assigned a centre in Nagpur after due verification. Following verification, PM SHRI Kendriya Vidyalaya, Ajni, was confirmed as the student’s examination centre.

After the reassignment, the candidate’s father expressed relief and satisfaction. He thanked the authorities for their prompt action and for enabling his son to sit the exam in Nagpur. He said, “Just 5 minutes ago, we received the fresh admit card with the exam centre in Nagpur. We are very thankful to the Agency for this prompt action. We are also thankful to the media for raising this issue. He is not ready to write the exam again, but we are convincing him. Now that he has the fresh admit card, we will speak with him again. I can’t express in words how tense we were…They should ensure that nothing like this occurs in the future. No one else should go through what we had to.”

The NTA also clarified the circumstances on X, stating that the city of Abu Dhabi was selected by the candidate himself. “On the ‘Abu Dhabi’ query: NTA’s web-activity records indicate that the city change in this case was made through the candidate’s own registered login during the open correction window, with a consistent single-user access pattern,” the NTA said.