Examine the challenges of transitioning mass-scale public examinations like NEET-UG to computer-based mode, especially concerning digital equity and cybersecurity.

NEET-UG, conducted by the National Testing Agency (NTA) in pen-and-paper mode, is India's largest single-day entrance test [1]. After the 2024 paper-leak controversy, the Union Education Ministry informed the Supreme Court (August 2026) that migration to Computer-Based Testing (CBT), possibly on the two-stage JEE pattern, is under active consideration pending the Nandan Nilekani-led task force report [2]. The shift promises integrity gains, but its challenges are substantial.

Administrative and logistical challenges

• Scale: NTA has moved seven of its eight major exams — JEE Main, CUET, UGC-NET — to CBT, but none matches NEET-UG's candidate volume, straining test-centre capacity [1][2].
• Multi-session normalisation: CBT at this scale needs multi-day, multi-shift schedules, raising fairness disputes over differing paper difficulty.
• Inter-institutional coordination: the decision needs concurrence of the Health Ministry and National Medical Commission, slowing reform [2].
• Vendor dependence: outsourced service providers remain a weak link; the Public Examinations (Prevention of Unfair Means) Amendment Act, 2026 raised their debarment period from four to eight years [3][4].

Digital equity concerns

• Rural aspirants face lower digital exposure — internet use among rural youth (15–24 years) trails urban youth by nearly ten percentage points [5].
• Unfamiliarity with keyboard/on-screen navigation can penalise first-generation and vernacular-medium candidates, converting a security reform into an access barrier.
• Centre scarcity in aspirational districts forces long-distance travel, adding cost and dropout risk.

Cybersecurity and integrity risks

• CBT shifts risk from physical leaks to server, database and network attacks; the Supreme Court has flagged database protection as a precondition [2].
• The 2026 Act therefore penalises tampering with computer systems and answer sheets, empowers a special investigative task force, and caps investigation at two months [3][4].
• Remote proctoring raises impersonation and privacy questions, requiring safeguards consistent with data-protection norms.

CBT can plug leakage channels only if equity and cyber-resilience are built in simultaneously. A phased rollout — mock CBT drives in rural schools, expanded centre networks in vernacular languages, third-party security audits and the Nilekani panel's recommendations — would make the transition credible. Examination reform must ultimately serve Article 14's promise of equal opportunity, not merely technological modernisation.