Last Updated:
Students online are questioning how an overseas city could even appear as an option for an Indian candidate.
‘If I Ask For Mars, Will NTA Give That Too?’: NTA Says Candidate Chose Abu Dhabi As NEET Exam Centre But Social Media Isn’t Buying It
A bizarre NEET controversy has completely taken over social media after a student from Nagpur was allegedly allotted an exam centre in Abu Dhabi for the NEET UG 2026 re-exam scheduled on June 21. At first, the internet exploded with disbelief over how an Indian student could suddenly be asked to fly to another country just to write an exam.
According to a post, the candidate, identified as Abdullah Mohammad Talib, discovered the exam location after downloading his admit card. Sharing the family’s account, ANI quoted the aspirant’s father, Mohammad Talib, as saying, “After the admit card was downloaded at 4 pm yesterday, we found the Centre mentioned to be a school in Abu Dhabi. We were really shocked as we had not given anything as such in our options.”
Now the National Testing Agency has officially claimed that the candidate himself selected Abu Dhabi as his preferred exam city using his own login credentials during the correction window. According to NTA, Dubai was the second preference.
In a report by HT, the official was quoting saying: “We have complete logs of his activities on the NEET portal. Despite downloading the admit card on June 16, neither the candidate nor his family contacted the NTA and did not send any mail regarding this. Instead, his father approached the media on June 20, just a day before the exam. We are now allotting him a centre in Nagpur, but our cyber team is examining whether the changes were made by the candidate himself or by someone who may have gained access to his account.”
In a long clarification posted on X, NTA wrote: “NTA’s web-activity records indicate that the city change in this case was made through the candidate’s own registered login during the open correction window, with a consistent single-user access pattern.”
The agency further added that despite this, officials still helped the student after receiving a last-minute request to shift the centre back to Nagpur.
“Despite the Abu Dhabi centre being chosen by the candidate, the NTA received an informal request on the evening of June 19 (just 48 hours before the exam) to change the centre to Nagpur.”
NTA also claimed that the Abu Dhabi centre was previewed twice before final submission.
Reference the issue with regard to allotment of a centre in Abu Dhabi to a candidate in Nagpur, NTA would like to state the following:Following the rescheduling of NEET (UG) 2026 to 21 June, the National Testing Agency reopened the examination-city correction window to assist…
— National Testing Agency (@NTA_Exams) June 20, 2026
Internet Reacts To NTA’s Response
But the internet is absolutely not convinced. One viral comment summed up the confusion perfectly:
“NEET EXAM MYSTERY! NTA says the candidate changed the exam centre. The candidate says, “I never did.” One of them isn’t telling the truth. But here’s the million-rupee question: Why would a student from Nagpur suddenly choose Abu Dhabi as their exam centre just 3 days before NEET? 🤔 Mistake? Glitch? Or something else entirely?”
Another user questioned the logic behind the entire system itself: “How can a student in India choose Abu Dhabi as their center? Why would Abu Dhabi be in the list of available centers in the first place? What an illogical explanation is this by the NTA?”
One comment that quickly went viral joked: “Such an absurd logic for abu dhabi issue – If anybody will ask a centre on Mars, will you provide that too ? School Address on Mars will be like – Elon Musk Public School, Donald Trump Road, Marsington DC, United States of Mars Mars, Pin – £€¥$#@”
Others pointed out what they believe is a technical inconsistency in the exam form itself. “NTA form follows a step-by-step process: Country, State, and then City. If a candidate selects India as the country, only Indian states and cities should appear. So how did Abu Dhabi show up as a city option?”
About the Author
Mallika Bhagat is a Deputy News Editor at News18, where she leads the Lifestyle and Viral desks. A seasoned journalist and content strategist, she brings a decade of high-impact experience from India’…Read More
Read More
