Maybe we are all responsible. We forget - We keep on passing the buck unless it strikes one of our own and never demand accountability.

The recent ‘Cockroach Janata Party,’ now banned, was formed by a 30-year-old after the CJI Surya Kant’s remark during a hearing - where he compared unemployed youth and fake degree holders to cockroaches with a mic. Kant later clarified that his comment targeted only fake degree holders, but the movement's rapid growth to 22 million followers drew significant attention- Questions have arisen regarding the followers count with 49% attributed from Pakistan, even though the creator clarified that 94% of followers are from India. This surge aimed to highlight issues faced by unemployed and other youth sectors before the Indian government halted it, citing national security concerns.

Since we dont propagate the idea of picking a statement out of a context and drag it for a news - We have decided to include the statement made by Mr Kant on May 15th 2026 - ‘AS IT IS’ -  for our readers to draw their conclusion: 

The QUOTE: AS IT IS
“There are youngsters like cockroaches, who don't get any employment or have any place in the profession. Some of them become media, some of them become social media, RTI activists and other activists, and they start attacking everyone.”

The social media handle before it got banned had highlighted one major issue that needs to be addressed and the debate to be taken further on -  How Institutional Failure Exploited 24 Lakh Dreams in NEET UG 2026- and as the saga continues - It seems we never learn.

A paper had been circulating for over 15 days and was in a WhatsApp group with around 400 members. It had already crossed five states.’- But the machinery failed to detect or stop what it was supposed to do.

The PDF that crossed 5 borders and was circulated across platforms until it took a common man's grid to uncover the failed system.

On the night of 2nd May 2026, hours before 22,00,000 students sat for the NEET-UG examination, a father in Sikar received a PDF from his son studying for MBBS at a Medical College in Kerala. The PDF was labelled as ‘guess paper’ and the father who ran a PG accommodation in Sikar forwarded the PDF to a chemistry and biology teacher.

Initially, the teacher ignored the PDF -  assuming it was just another guess paper. This is a common practice in the Indian subcontinent where students frequently study from guess papers  before exams and share them with teachers if they have questions.

The next day as the story unfolded, the chemistry teacher was reviewing the NEET  answers after the exam when a student's parent showed him a guess paper. At first dismissive, the teacher then examined the paper and was surprised to see that all 45 questions in the chemistry section matched the actual NEET paper of 2026.
To his surprise, he found that even sections of the Biology paper were part of the entire leak. The teacher chose to investigate further by contacting several students while involving local media and officials and approaching the police station to register his discovery. However, his complaint was dismissed in the first instance—highlighting how, in our society ordinary people often find it difficult to obtain justice while the rich can easily scam the public and bail out without much trouble.
With his complaint being unanswered, he then opted to voice his concern by penning it down and forwarding the email to  NTA.

He was found quoting later in a report to Money Control “ This is how we blew this paper leak”. Finally the NTEA cancelled the exam on May 5, and CBI was called in to engage in further investigation on May 12th.

The real cocern :

As we pen down the article and look back into how teh incident unfolded  the major issue even in the digital AI age  is  identifying who is responsible when multiple paper leaks compromise the system and endanger the lives of young aspirants. Is targeting low-level offenders and ignoring the larger culprits the only approach? After two years of widespread incidents and a commission promising no future leaks in 2024 following the NEET-UG medical paper leak - we still lack a strong system to address the root cause. Even after a whistleblower exposed the issue just four days post-leak  and   the leaked paper circulated for 14 days on WhatsApp, Telegram, and other channels, no effective machinery was in place to identify or apprehend the conspirators .  

The timelines : The paper was leaked 15 days before the exam, yet no one noticed:

Yes, this is the content that should keep us pondering even in our sleep , not the ₹10,00,000 price tag, not the encrypted messenger app, not the borders of five states, not the so called 10 arrests made so far or the illegal apartment in Beed. These are just the epitome of a society that has left its door open for the snapping of 24 lakhs dreams being nipped before they begin. These 15 days reveal the true extent of how despite all assurances and safeguarding mechanisms we failed our youth - who are struggling to cope in a society where nothing seems to deter from future being sold and bought by scammers for petty sums of money. During this time we're compelled to confront the reality: this is not just an accidental leak. Instead, it was a deliberate breach that circulated within a 400-member WhatsApp group, moved through sealed envelopes and couriers, and was exchanged across five states via encrypted apps. It was sold multiple times, ranging from ₹30,000 to ₹28,00,000, successfully bypassing every hidden checkpoint in the system.No one noticed.

A crux : An organised gang needs time to organise, it needs a gap to operate in and somebody maintains those gaps

In May, the court order described the NEET exam leak as an organised gang involved in leaking and circulating confidential examination papers for monetary gain. An organised gang, not a lone actor, not a glitch, it was an organisation with buyers, sellers, middlemen, a supply chain, a pricing model, well defined, and repeat business. Organisations of this kind do not appear overnight and are built over time in the gaps that institutions leave open. The alleged mastermind of the Operation ‘ PV Kulkarni, the chemistry lecturer, was not an outsider who hacked the NTS system; he was involved in the examination process on behalf of NTA itself. During his special coaching classes at home in Pune, he dictated correct questions and answers to students.

The paper was also forwarded via encrypted apps and WhatsApp groups, and was sold to students for 10 lakhs to 30 lakhs, but nobody acted. Not even a single person flagged it. If this were the first time, you could call it a system failure, a tragedy of coordination, and an unfortunate gap, but this is not the first time.

A series of failure: In 2024, the NEET paper was leaked from a locked NTA trunk at Oasis school in Hazaribagh. At that time, as well, the paper was leaked from the secured NTA-designated examination centre. After the leak, cybersecurity upgrades, digital paper transmissions, audits, and the formation of a new independent committee were proposed. Yet, two years later, most of these recommendations have not yet been implemented.

The questions no one is asking:

As of 21st May, 2026, CBI has arrested 10 accused after conducting searches in 5+ locations. The court is issuing the custody orders and CBI is still probing with FAIMA and Doctors' union filing petitions in supreme court for revamping and strict vigilante over teh upcoming dates and process - But were these not addressed in 2024 - Is this the solution the learned society has for its youth? A trail of petition - mails - assurances. 

However the question that arrests do not answer is simpler yet more difficult for all of them — who chooses not to act on Sikar’s email?

The leak is the crime, yet the silence is the bigger crime, that made it possible in the first place. Only one of them is being prosecuted.  The condition that led the teacher to review the answer, confirm 45 questions- wait four days, and then send an email to NTA - all these can be a stroke of luck or coincidence but the system which is supposed to police such acts was missing - As without this mere coincidence the whole incident would have been still buried under teh rugs. Now the pertinent reality check as even after the email which was sent and was sufficient to uncover the network, it couldn't undo the damage.

But there is still a question Indian law is currently not equipped to ask, and that no arrest warrant addresses: what is the criminal liability of the person who knew but did nothing?

Imagine applying this reasoning universally. A society which houses a rapist - the court that bails him - the lawyer who fights for him - the family that houses him - the society that allows him to live and pay his rent - the shop that provides rations to him and even the law that allows him to contest are barriers and bridges of the society. A security guard allowing robbers in is just as responsible as the robbers themselves. Similarly, a factory owner who removes safety measures and then witnesses a worker's injury isn't exempt from blame just because someone else operated the machine. In all these situations it’s intuitive that everybody facilitating a crime or witnessing a crime and not acting on it bears its own guilt. The individual who sets the stage for harm isn’t less guilty because they didn’t directly commit the act.