NMC bars leaves for medical students on June 20-21 to prevent NEET ‘proxies’

The National Medical Commission (NMC) has instructed medical colleges across India not to grant leave to medical students on June 20 and 21. This directive aims to prevent students from appearing as proxy candidates in the NEET-UG 2026 re-examination, scheduled for June 21.

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This measure is intended as a preventive step to discourage any potential misuse and to support the fair conduct of the examination

The advisory, issued at the behest of the Department of Higher Education (DoHE) under the Union Ministry of Education, is a preventive measure to discourage misuse and ensure the fair conduct of the examination. The NMC has requested strict compliance from all medical colleges and institutes.

This action comes after the NEET-UG 2026 exam, held on May 3, was canceled on May 12 due to allegations of a paper leak. More than 2.27 million candidates had taken the exam. In previous editions, particularly NEET UG 2024, at least seven MBBS students were arrested from Bihar, Jharkhand, and Rajasthan for acting as proxy candidates or participating in solver gangs.

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In view of certain instances reported in the past… all medical colleges shall remain vigilant and ensure that medical students are sensitised against any involvement in activities prejudicial to the conduct of the examination

To maintain the sanctity of the examination, the DoHE secretary had urged vigilance and sensitization of students against malpractices. The NMC's notice emphasizes that medical students should be made aware of the consequences of involvement in activities prejudicial to the examination's conduct. The re-examination on June 21 will be conducted by the National Testing Agency (NTA) in pen-and-paper mode across numerous cities in India and abroad for over 2.27 million candidates.

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NMC has issued the public notice to all medical colleges on the request of the education ministry’s DoHE secretary. There have been some instances in the past wherein various investigation agencies and the education ministry had brought to our notice that some of the medical students were alleged to have been involved in impersonation and sitting as proxy candidates. In order to ensure the sanctity of this exam, the education ministry requested us to issue the notice and we have asked the medical college to remain vigilant and not to grant leaves to students on June 20 and June 21