Inside India’s NEET crisis: Paper leak mafia, coaching industry & NTA failures | Anita Rampal speaks

In this episode of Frontline Conversations, Anita Rampal, Educationist and Former Dean, Faculty of Education, Delhi University, examines the NEET paper leak controversy, the growing power of the coaching industry, and the larger crisis surrounding India’s centralised entrance examination system. She argues that NEET and the National Testing Agency (NTA) have transformed education into a high-pressure, deeply unequal system that privileges coaching, wealth, and social advantage over genuine understanding and aptitude. The discussion explores the emotional burden on students and families, the commercialisation of medical education, the rise of paper leak mafias, and the debate over online examinations. The conversation also looks at why States like Tamil Nadu opposed NEET, how centralised testing affects federalism and school education, and whether India needs a complete overhaul of the way medical students are selected. Chapters: 01:21 | Impact on students, families, & the pressure 03:48 | Why educationists opposed NTA from the beginning 05:40 | Coaching industry expansion into schools & villages 08:32 | “Competitive exams test social advantage” 10:05 | Tamil Nadu’s opposition to NEET explained 11:30 | Coaching industry, corruption, & commercialisation 12:56 | “NTA should not exist” 14:20 | Coaching centres, suicides & dehumanisation 18:00 | Why NEET is a “superficial” exam 19:34 | Paper leak mafia & criminal networks 22:02 | Rich students, coaching access, & inequality 23:23 | Will online exams solve the problem? 24:47 | How NEET weakened school education 29:12 | Can India build a fairer medical admission system? Perfect for: Students preparing for NEET, CUET, JEE, and competitive exams Parents concerned about coaching culture and exam pressure Education policy researchers and academics Journalists covering education, inequality, and public policy Anyone interested in understanding India’s examination system and medical education crisis Credits: Host: Soni Mishra Camera: Deepanshu Chhabra and Vedaant Lakhera Editing: Razal Pareed Producers: Kavya Pradeep M and Mridula Vijayarangakumar #NEET2026 #NTA #mbbs #neet #NEETPaperLeak #MedicalEducation #EducationCrisis #CoachingMafia #IndiaEducation #NEETScam #FrontlineConversations If you found this discussion insightful, don’t forget to like, share, and subscribe to Frontline for more in-depth conversations. Subscribe to Frontline: https://frontline.thehindu.com/online... You can also read Frontline's package on NEET here: https://frontline.thehindu.com/the-na... Follow us on: Facebook - / frontlineindia Twitter - / frontline_india Instagram - / frontline.magazine LinkedIn - / frontline-magazine-b12921295