A student from Nagpur appearing for the June 21 NEET-UG re-examination was allotted an examination centre in Abu Dhabi, triggering a political row and prompting criticism from Congress leader Rahul Gandhi.
However, the National Testing Agency (NTA) clarified that the overseas centre was selected by the candidate, Abdullah Mohammad Talib, himself through the official correction window.
The NTA also said following a request from the student’s family, the centre was immediately shifted to Nagpur, and that the agency assisted the family in completing the process.
Reacting to reports of the overseas centre allotment, Rahul accused the NTA of causing unnecessary stress to students and their families. He alleged that the Nagpur student who had been preparing for the re-examination discovered only days before the test that his centre was located abroad, making it impossible for him to travel due to financial and logistical constraints.
“The NTA is actually just testing the patience of the country’s children and their parents. A system that can’t provide a centre in a child’s own city but sends them abroad instead has no right to conduct examination,” he said.
In response, the NTA said its web activity records showed the city change to Abu Dhabi was made using the candidate’s registered login credentials during the open correction window. According to the agency, the access logs reflected a consistent single-user activity pattern.
“Despite the Abu Dhabi centre being chosen by the candidate, the NTA received an informal request on the evening of June 19 to change the centre to Nagpur. NTA personnel immediately initiated the change and contacted the candidate’s father the same evening to complete the required formalities,” the agency said.
The NTA further noted that the candidate’s account reflected three separate instances indicating the Abu Dhabi selection–once when the centre was changed and twice when the details were previewed.
An NTA official said Talib was the only candidate allotted an overseas examination centre, and that no similar cases had been reported.
Following the rescheduling of the NEET-UG examination to June 21, the NTA reopened the examination city correction window to facilitate candidates. The agency said nearly 3.2 lakh candidates availed of the facility and more than 99.5 per cent were allotted their preferred centres.
