Amid NTA row, committee set up to make recommendations for overhaul of NTA, exam process, data security

With the National Testing Agency (NTA) embroiled in multiple controversies, the Ministry of Education on Saturday constituted a seven-member committee of experts to provide a roadmap for an overhaul of the agency and its processes. It will make recommendations on the structure and functioning of the NTA, reforms in the mechanisms of the examination process, and improvement in data security protocols.

The committee, which will be led by K. Radhakrishnan, the former chairman of the Indian Space Research Organisation, will submit its report to the government in two months.

The committee is being formed to “ensure transparent, smooth and fair conduct of examinations” through the NTA, the Education Ministry said.

Storm of controversies

Over the past month, the agency has been caught in a string of controversies, starting with the row over irregularities in NEET-UG, an entrance test for undergraduate medical programmes, which affected over 23 lakh students. This was followed by the cancellation of the UGC-NET examination for research scholars and university teachers, after inputs that the integrity of the exam had been compromised, and then the postponement of the joint CSIR-UGC-NET examination over “unavoidable circumstances and logistical issues”.

Through the week, students across the country have been protesting against the irregularities, saying that “NTA inadequacies” have disrupted their future plans.

Review and reform

The expert committee has been mandated with assessing the NTA’s current grievance redressal mechanism, identifying areas of improvement, and making recommendations for enhanced efficiency. It will also make recommendations on the organisational structure of the NTA and clearly define the roles and responsibilities of functionaries at every level, according to an official statement.

The committee will also conduct a thorough review of the NTA’s standard operating procedures and protocols and suggest measures to strengthen them, analyse the end-to-end examination process, and suggest measures to forestall any possible breaches. Existing data security processes and security protocols for paper-setting will also be evaluated by the committee.

Apart from Dr. Radhakrishnan, the committee also includes Central University of Hyderabad Vice-Chancellor Professor B.J. Rao and the former director of AIIMS Delhi, Randeep Guleria.

‘Important first step’

Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan, who earlier this week took responsibility for the NEET paper leak, posted about the panel on X. “Setting up of the high-level committee of experts is the first of a series of steps to improve efficiency of the examination process, put an end to all possible malpractices, strengthen data security protocols and overhaul and reform the NTA. Student interests and their bright future will always be our govt’s top priority,” he said.

University Grants Commission chairperson M. Jagadesh Kumar said that the formation of the committee was a “welcome step towards assuring entrance examinations’ transparent, smooth, and fair conduct”.

‘Why no retest?’

Meanwhile, the Opposition continued to raise questions about the irregularities. “No matter how much effort BJP makes in the NEET scam, it cannot escape its responsibility of promoting fraud, corruption and education mafia!” Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge said in a post on X.

He pointed out that the Supreme Court had earlier said that action should be taken place even if 0.001% fraud has taken place in NEET-UG, and asked why the Union government was unwilling to conduct the examination again.