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New Delhi: Union Education Minister, Dharmendra Pradhan said that the Indian Air Force will be roped in to transport the question papers for the NEET-UG re-examination, scheduled for June 21, 2026. The decision comes amidst the government’s push to conduct a fair examination and ensure no paper leak this time. One must note that the NEET-UG examination, held on May 3 was cancelled after a paper leak was detected.

Speaking to a media channel on Thursday, Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan said that the government follows a “whole-of-government approach”, involving several of its departments, including postal department, Home Ministry and the state governments to ensure that this time the examination is fair and smooth.

He said that in previous examinations also, there has been the involvement of the postal department, the Union Home Ministry and the state governments. This time too, the government is planning to follow the same approach (the whole-of-government approach) and ensure a free, fair and smooth NEET-UG re-examination, said Pradhan.

The Union Minister also said that given the logistical and security considerations and also the weather condition in June, the government has decided to involve the Indian Air Force to transport the question papers. He said that this was earlier the duty of the postal department alone, but this year, ity will be supported by the Air Force.

The Minister said that the Air Force personnel will ensure that the question papers reach the various examination destinations on time. This, according to him, will help conduct a free and fair examination.

A meeting was also held on Thursday, between Dharmendra Pradhan, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh and Communications Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia, where discussions regarding a smooth and fair examination took place. They also talked about how to prevent paper leaks in the NEET-UG examination and ensure fool-proof security during the conduct of the examination.

It was during this meeting of the 3 Ministers that the proposal to involve the Air Force in transporting the question papers came up.

The NEET re-examination was announced on May 12, by the National Testing Agency (NTA). The announcement came after it was discovered that several practice papers of NEET circulating in the market, before the exam on May 3, had questions similar to the original question paper. This led the agency to take action. The cancellation announcement led to massive protests by students across the country. Currently the CBI is investigating the paper leak and has arrested several people.