New Delhi: Medical students have been barred from taking leave on June 20 and 21 to prevent them from appearing as proxy candidates in the re-examination of NEET-UG 2026 scheduled for June 21 — a practice flagged in past editions of the test.NMC bars leaves for medical students on June 20-21 to prevent NEET ‘proxies’The National Medical Commission (NMC) has advised all medical colleges not to grant leave on those days barring “exceptional circumstances with due justification,” acting on a direction from the department of higher education (DoHE) under the Union ministry of education.“This measure is intended as a preventive step to discourage any potential misuse and to support the fair conduct of the examination,” NMC secretary Dr Raghav Langer said in a notice dated June 18. The notice asked for “strict compliance” by all medical colleges and institutes.Earlier, through an April 23 notice, medical students were barred from leave on May 2-3 ahead of the exam. NEET-UG 2026 held on May 3 was called off on May 12 following allegations of a paper leak, including purported overlaps between a pre-circulated guess paper and the actual paper. More than 2.27 million candidates had appeared for the May 3 examination.On June 13, DoHE secretary Vineet Joshi wrote to Union health ministry secretary Punya Salila Srivastava, urging vigilance and sensitisation of students against any involvement in malpractices. He also recommended denying leave to students on June 20-21 except in justified cases.“In view of certain instances reported in the past… all medical colleges shall remain vigilant and ensure that medical students are sensitised against any involvement in activities prejudicial to the conduct of the examination,” reads the NMC notice.Officials in NMC, NTA and education ministry said in NEET UG 2024, at least 7 MBBS students were arrested from Bihar, Jharkhand and Rajasthan who either appeared as proxy candidates for aspirants or were part of solvers gangs.“NMC has issued the public notice to all medical colleges on the request of the education ministry’s DoHE secretary. There have been some instances in the past wherein various investigation agencies and the education ministry had brought to our notice that some of the medical students were alleged to have been involved in impersonation and sitting as proxy candidates. In order to ensure the sanctity of this exam, the education ministry requested us to issue the notice and we have asked the medical college to remain vigilant and not to grant leaves to students on June 20 and June 21,” a senior NMC official told HT, requesting anonymity.The NTA will conduct re-examination of NEET-UG 2026 in a single shift from 2pm to 5:15pm in pen-and-paper mode on Sunday across 551 cities in India and 14 cities abroad for over 22.79 lakh candidates. Qualifying NEET-UG is mandatory for admission to MBBS and other UG medical courses.Over 200,000 personnel have been deployed nationwide, including 674 city coordinators, 6,669 observers, centre superintendents and invigilators, district administration officials, police and escort teams. Personnel from the Indian Air Force (IAF) and Central Armed Police Forces (CAPFs) have also been roped in to assist with the secure transportation and safeguarding of confidential examination materials and overall security arrangements.Meanwhile, NTA has also announced that it will send examination updates and centre information directly to candidates from its verified WhatsApp account: +91 7827980287. This initiative is intended to make essential information reach candidates directly and reduce avoidable confusion, the agency said.