Patna: Following a similar welfare directive by the Punjab government, Bihar Chief Minister Samrat Choudhary announced on Saturday that state-operated bus services will be completely free for all students appearing in the upcoming NEET-UG 2026 re-examination. The measure aims to ease travel-related stress and financial burdens for lakhs of medical aspirants who must commute to distant regional test centres for a second time.
Sharing the policy rollout on X, Chief Minister Choudhary specified that valid examination admit cards would serve as free travel passes on all Bihar State Road Transport Corporation buses during the re-test window. In tandem with the logistical support, the Chief Minister made an appeal to local district administrations, non-governmental organisations, and the state’s prominent temples and monasteries. He requested collective civic cooperation in setting up community booths to distribute clean drinking water, traditional sattu refreshments, and basic amenities for travelling examinees and their accompanying guardians at major transit hubs, railway stations, and bus terminals across the state.
The progressive state intervention comes as federal accountability discussions intensify over the massive national entrance controversy. Union Minister and Lok Janshakti Party (Ram Vilas) Chief Chirag Paswan sharply criticized National Testing Agency Director General Abhishek Singh on Saturday regarding the agency’s initial response to the systemic compromise. Speaking to reporters in Patna, Paswan stressed that a failure of this magnitude, which disrupts the futures of over 22 lakh youth, is entirely unacceptable and urged the Ministry of Education to systematically sensitize the testing framework to ensure comprehensive operational transparency moving forward.
The administrative fallout reached a critical phase this week during a grueling five-hour hearing before the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Education, presided over by Congress MP Digvijaya Singh. NTA Director General Abhishek Singh and Higher Education Secretary Vineet Joshi informed lawmakers that while a limited set of questions had surfaced prematurely, the core testing network itself was not breached from within. Defending the subsequent cancellation under the agency’s strict zero-tolerance guidelines, officials stated that even localized compromises threaten public trust in competitive merit. The parliamentary panel reviewed ongoing short-term structural reforms, highlighting that approximately 70 percent of the Radhakrishnan Committee recommendations have been enforced, with the national medical test poised to permanently transition to a computer-based testing format starting next year to fully eliminate physical leaks. The high-stakes re-examination remains on track for June 21 under significantly enhanced security protocols mandated by central intelligence agencies.
