Patna (Bihar) [India], May 23 (ANI): Bihar Chief Minister Samrat Choudhary on Saturday announced that the government bus services across the State will be free for all those taking the NEET-UG 2026 re-exam.

Taking it to X, Choudhary urged the monasteries and temples of the state, and non-governmental organisations to help in the arrangement of clean drinking water, etc., for the examinees and their parents at the bus stands, railway stations, and other locations.

'For the convenience of all examinees appearing in the NEET examination, travel will be free on all government buses of the state of Bihar. Additionally, the district administration, all monasteries and temples of the state, and non-governmental organisations are requested to extend cooperation in arranging drinking water, sattu, etc., for examinees and their parents at bus stands, railway stations, and other major locations,' he wrote.

Earlier in the day, Union Minister and Lok Janshakti Party (R) chief Chirag Paswan on Saturday criticised the National Testing Agency (NTA) Director General Abhishek Singh for his response to the NEET-UG 2026 controversy.

Speaking to the reporters, Paswan called for the sensitisation of the system, underlining the gravity of the NEET-UG 2026 paper leak case. He stressed that such an incident will not be acceptable in the future.

'This is a serious issue, and one cannot just make statements on it. The investigation is ongoing, and arrests are being made. The system should be sensitised. This will not be acceptable in the future,' he said.

The remarks come amid ongoing political debate over the NEET-UG 2026 examination, after NTA officials informed the Parliamentary Standing Committee that the paper was not leaked in full and that only certain questions had surfaced before the exam, as per the sources.

According to sources, NTA DG Abhishek Singh and Higher Education Secretary Vineet Joshi told the committee that several reforms recommended for strengthening the examination system had already been implemented, while work on the remaining measures was ongoing.

Officials maintained that the alleged leak did not originate from the NTA system and said the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) is probing the circulation of leaked questions that led to the cancellation of the examination, as per the sources.

They also defended the cancellation under the agency's 'zero-tolerance' policy, stating that even limited compromise of questions could undermine public trust in competitive examinations.

The Parliamentary Standing Committee also reviewed measures being taken to prevent similar incidents in the future and discussed proposals to shift NEET-UG to a computer-based testing format from next year.

Political tensions continue over the NEET-UG 2026 controversy, which led to the cancellation of the examination held on May 3 across 551 cities in India and 14 international centres, with over 22 lakh candidates appearing.

The re-examination is scheduled for June 21 under enhanced security measures mandated by the Union Education Ministry. (ANI)