By NE NOW NEWS
Guwahati: The National Testing Agency (NTA) has clarified that the allotment of an examination centre in Abu Dhabi to a Nagpur-based NEET-UG 2026 candidate was not the result of an administrative error, stating that the change was made through the candidate’s own registered login credentials during the correction window.
The clarification came a day after the student’s family alleged that the candidate had been mistakenly assigned an overseas examination centre despite selecting Nagpur as his preferred location for the NEET-UG 2026 re-examination scheduled for June 21.
In a statement shared on social media platform X, the NTA said its records indicate that the examination city was changed to Abu Dhabi through the candidate’s account during the city correction window that was reopened after the rescheduling of the examination. The agency added that system logs reflected “consistent single-user activity” throughout the process.
According to the NTA, the Abu Dhabi centre was selected using the candidate’s credentials and was previewed twice before the final submission was completed. The agency maintained that the available data did not indicate any technical or administrative lapse on its part.
Despite this, the NTA said it acted swiftly after receiving a complaint from the candidate’s family on the evening of June 19, less than two days before the examination. Officials immediately initiated corrective measures and contacted the student’s father to facilitate the process of changing the examination centre.
The candidate has since been allotted a centre in Nagpur, his home city. The agency stated that ensuring students do not miss the examination remains its top priority and described its response as being guided by a “student-first” approach.
The controversy emerged after the student’s revised admit card reportedly listed Abu Dhabi Indian School in the United Arab Emirates as the examination venue. The family claimed that the candidate had originally chosen Nagpur as his first preference, followed by Wardha and Bhandara.
NTA Director General Abhishek Singh confirmed that the issue had been resolved and that the student would now appear for the examination at a centre in Nagpur.
The NEET-UG 2026 re-examination is scheduled to be conducted on June 21 in 551 cities across India and 14 cities abroad. More than 22.79 lakh candidates are expected to appear for the medical entrance examination, which will be held in pen-and-paper mode from 2 pm to 5:15 pm.