New Delhi, Aug 29 (IANS) The National Eligibility-cum-Entrance Test-Post Graduate (NEET-PG 2026) will be held across 1,300 centres in 340 cities across the country on Sunday with more than 2.73 lakh medical graduates expected to appear in the exam, an official said.

The National Board of Examinations in Medical Sciences (NBEMS) had released NEET-PG 2026 admit card on August 26, the official said.

A total of 2,73,183 candidates had registered for NEET-PG 2026, representing an increase of more than 12.5 per cent compared to the previous year, the official said, adding that the exam will be conducted in a single shift.

Clearing NEET-PG allows doctors to secure seats in various advanced medical courses across government and private colleges and pursue courses including MD (Doctor of Medicine) and MS (Master of Surgery).

Earlier, Union Minister for Health and Family Welfare J.P. Nadda reviewed the preparedness for NEET-PG 2026.

The Union Minister directed all stakeholders to ensure a smooth, secure, transparent and technology-enabled examination process.

For maintaining the integrity of the exam, the authorities are relying on an extensive security framework which includes CCTV surveillance, biometric verification, frisking, signal jammers, dynamic computer allocation, live monitoring through central and regional command centres, and deployment of more than 60,000 examination personnel.

Nadda urged candidates not to be misled by rumours or fraudulent claims relating to the examination.

He highlighted that the final question paper is selected through a highly secure, encrypted and time-bound process shortly before the commencement of the examination, with multiple layers of technological and operational safeguards ensuring its confidentiality until the scheduled start time.

Any claim of prior access to the question paper by anyone is therefore entirely false and intended to mislead candidates, Union Minister Nadda said.

He advised aspirants to rely only on official communications issued by NBEMS and the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare and to promptly report any suspicious activities or attempts at unfair practices.

Union Minister Nadda during the high-level review meeting assessed the preparedness of the NBEMS, technology partners and other agencies involved in conducting the examination.

According to a press statement, officials briefed him on examination logistics, candidate facilitation measures, security arrangements and the technology-driven interventions introduced for this year's test.

Union Minister Nadda asked officials to ensure that every effort is made to uphold the highest standards of fairness, integrity and security.

He also told them to ensure a candidate-friendly examination experience.

Several student-centric reforms have been introduced this year.

According to information, candidates could indicate three state preferences for test centres, with their correspondence state as the mandatory first preference.

"The information regarding the test city was communicated nearly three weeks in advance. With this communication, students got sufficient time to plan travel and accommodation," officials added.

The examination pattern has also been revised to 180 questions to be completed in 210 minutes. This would ensure that candidates have more time per question.

Aadhaar-based authentication has been integrated during both registration and examination.

Similarly, iris-based biometric verification will serve as a backup where fingerprint authentication fails.

--IANS