Centre removes NTA’s head, to overhaul body

The Union government on Saturday removed the head of the National Testing Authority (NTA), which has been at the centre of a storm that has singed the Narendra Modi administration after a slew of crucial national examinations involving the fates of some 3.5 million candidates were botched up.

The announcement came hours after the government formed a seven-member committee to comprehensively review the structure, processes and working of the authority, and the education minister Dharmendra Pradhan stating that the “top leadership” was under the scanner.

The government on Saturday removed Director General (DG) Subodh Kumar Singh, assigning retired IAS officer Pradeep Singh Kharola, who is currently serving as the chairman and managing director of the India Trade Promotion Organization (IPTO), in his stead.

“Assignment of additional charge of the post of Director General, National Testing Agency, Ministry of Education to Shri Pradeep Singh Kharola, IAS (KN:85) (Retd.), Chairman and Managing Director, India Trade Promotion Organization till appointment of a regular incumbent or until further orders, whichever is earlier,” the notification said. “Placing the services of Shri Subodh Kumar Singh, IAS (CG:97), Director General, National Testing Agency, Ministry of Education on compulsory wait in the Department of Personnel & Training.”

Pradhan reiterated comments he made earlier in the week to own up to what he described as “institutional failure on the agency’s part”.

“I have taken responsibility. In fact, NTA’s top leadership is under several types of questions. But I have to safeguard students’ interest first. I am a custodian of their interests,” he said on Saturday.

NTA conducts a bevy of higher education and research screening tests, but has in the last week been at the centre after the country’s crucial medical education screening test NEET was mired in allegations of leaked question papers, flawed scoring, and cheating, and another crucial examination for academic research recruitment was scrapped after its questions were leaked onto the dark web.

Students and political parties have held protests over the matter in recent weeks and the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is expected to face heat from the Opposition in parliament that convenes next week.

Earlier in the day, the education minister named a seven-member that the committee to look into protocols, structure and the functioning of the NTA and recommend measures to fix it. “Setting up of the high-level committee of experts is the first of a series of step to improve efficiency of the examination process, put an end to all possible malpractices, strengthen data security protocols and overhaul and reform the NTA,” he said.

The panel will be led by former chairman of Indian Space Research Organisation K Radhakrishnan, who also chairs the board of governors of IIT Kanpur, and file a report within two months. Other members include former AIIMS Delhi director Randeep Guleria, Hyderabad University vice chancellor professor BJ Rao, IIT Madras professor emeritus Ramamurthy K, human resources consultancy People Strong’s co-founder Pankaj Bansal, IIT Delhi student affairs dean professor Aditya Mittal, and education ministry joint secretary Govind Jaiswal.

Saturday’s announcement comes a day after the NTA postponed the joint Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) and University Grants Commission (UGC) National Eligibility Test (NET), adding more fire to the controversy over the alleged irregularities in NEET (National Eligibility cum Entrance Test) and UGC-NET, which too was scrapped on Wednesday, 24 hours after it was held.

Close to 3.5 million registrants are estimated to have been affected by the controversies relating to the three examinations, although as things stand, except for 1,563 students who took NEET, the results of the 2.4 million more that took the medical college entrance test stands.

Pradhan denied that the postponement of the CSIR-UGC-NET exam on Friday was because of a paper leak. “There was no leak in CSIR-UGC NET, it was postponed because of logistic issues. There is also a retest of 1,563 NEET candidates tomorrow. For smooth conduct of the exam everywhere.”

The key issue involves the leak of question papers for the medical college screening test NEET and the research fellowships qualifier examination UGC-NET, but also extends to wider logistical issues and cancellations.

The controversy began with this year’s NEET after allegations surfaced that in one centre in Rajasthan, students appearing for the Hindi medium test got question papers in English amid reports of torn OMR sheets and delay in distribution of question papers. A case was lodged in Patna, Bihar, over an alleged paper leak, after which the police arrested 13 people involved in solving question papers and supplying answers as part of a racket.

For weeks, protests swept across India and escalated after NEET results were declared and showed inflated marking and arbitrary allowance of grace marks. The Supreme Court, which allowed NTA to withdraw grace marks to 1,563 students and conduct a retest for them on June 23, is set to hear a raft of petitions on the issue on July 8.

Then, on Wednesday evening, the education ministry cancelled the UGC-NET examination, which was held with 908,580 candidates appearing at 1,200 centres. On Thursday, Pradhan said the agency that tracks cyber crime for the Union home ministry informed UGC at 3pm on Wednesday that a specific question paper of UGC-NET set was leaked on the darknet.

On the NTA, the ministry in a separate statement on Saturday said “the committee will analyse the end-to-end examination process and suggest measures to improve efficiency of the system and to forestall any possible breach”.

It will, it added, also “conduct a thorough review of the Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs)/Protocols of the NTA, and suggest measures to strengthen these procedures/protocols along with monitoring mechanisms to ensure compliance at every level”.

The organisational structure of the NTA will be reviewed, and the recommendations could look at the roles and responsibilities of functionaries at every level.

“It will also assess the current Grievance Redressal Mechanism of the NTA, identify areas of improvement and make recommendations for enhancing its efficiency,” the ministry said.

“I want to reiterate that none involved or found responsible for any irregularity or discrepancy will be spared,” Pradhan said on Saturday.

In an alleged case of paper leak during NEET-UG exam in Gujarat, a senior ministry official said that it was not a case of paper leak. “It was a case of organised cheating and 30 students were found involved and they have been debarred,” said the official.

Earlier, the NTA had said that it had debarred 63 students from across the country who were debarred from NEET-UG for using unfair means during the exam.

University Grants Commission (UGC) chairperson M Jagadesh Kumar said the formation of the committee was a welcome step towards ensuring transparent, smooth, and fair conduct of entrance examinations. “The committee’s emphasis on recommending reforms in the examination process, enhancing data security protocols, and improving the NTA’s structure and functioning will strengthen our national entrance examination system. Protecting student’s interest and their future should be our priority,” he said.

Opposition leaders on Saturday renewed attacks on the government, saying its decision to implement a law late on Friday to prevent the use of unfair means in competitive examinations was too little and too late.

“On February 13, 2024, the President of India gave her assent to the Public Examinations (Prevention of Unfair Means), Bill, 2024. Finally, just this morning the nation has been told that this Act has come into force from yesterday, that is June 21, 2024,” said Congress leader Jairam Ramesh.

“Clearly this is damage control to deal with the NEET, UGC-NET, CSIR-UGC-NET and other scams,” the Congress leader said and added that “this law was needed. But it deals with leaks after they have occurred… More important are laws, systems, processes, and procedures to ensure that leaks don’t happen in the first place”.