I wish to share my opinion on the NEET exam paper leak and the Prime Minister’s message on austerity about avoiding international travel. Let me begin by highlighting that most of the international travel taking place right now is by students. As of 2025“2026, over 12 to 18 lakh Indian students are enrolled in higher education institutions abroad, with over 3,63,000 in the US alone. The trauma and stress of entrance exams for professional courses in India after having gone through a year (maybe more), of stress for both students and parents to score well in board exams is too much. Instead of re-conducting the exam why can’t they do a clean and thorough investigation and catch both the sellers and buyers of leaked papers and give severe punishment to both parties? I am sure the percentage of students who cheated may not be more than 25%. Why penalize 75% of genuine students and their parents? The government should also work on improving professional courses and funding them so that we don’t lose more aspirants. If the Prime Minister wants austerity and less international travel, fix the system that is pushing students out.
