On the morning of May 3, 2026, millions of Indians sat down in examination halls across India to write the NEET-UG examination to fulfil their dream of becoming doctors. Nine days later, the path to this dream was unceremoniously stopped by an all-too-familiar feature of the education system in Indian democracy. Across the SSC exam and state exams, yet another paper leak declared this path closed. Even the National Testing Agency (NTA) declared that the exam was cancelled and