Centre forms high-level committee to look into functioning of NTA

Panel to recommend reforms in exam process and submit report in 2 months

The Centre on Saturday formed a seven-member high-level committee to oversee transparency and look into the functioning of the National Testing Agency (NTA). 

The committee will be headed by former Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) Chairman Dr K Radhakrishan. Other prominent members of the committee include former All India Institute of Medical Science (Aiims) Delhi Director Dr Randeep Guleria, Central University of Hyderabad Vice-Chancellor B J Rao and Professor Emeritus of the department of Civil Engineering, Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Madras,  Ramamurthy K.  

This comes after the Centre on Friday operationalised the Public Examinations (Prevention of Unfair Means) Act, aiming to curb malpractices and irregularities in competitive exams. It entails provisions for a maximum jail term of ten years and a fine of up to Rs 1 crore for offenders.   

The committee will submit its report to the ministry within two months, making recommendations on reform in the mechanism of the examination process, improvement in data security protocols and structure and functioning of NTA.

The terms of reference of the committee include analysing the end-to-end examination process and suggest measures to improve efficiency of the system, forestall any possible breach and conduct a thorough review of the Standard Operating Procedures (SOP’s) of the NTA, suggesting measures to strengthen these procedures to ensure compliance at every level.

The committee will also examine existing security protocols related to the paper setting and other processes for different examinations and make recommendations to enhance the robustness of the system.

The formation of the committee comes amid controversy over the cancellation of UGC-National Eligibility Test (NET) exam and irregularities in conducting the NEET-UG.

Addressing the issue, Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan on Thursday had said that the government is committed to holding zero-error exams, with the committee being formed to improve NTA’s functioning.

“Recommendations will be expected from the high-level committee to further improve NTA, its structure, functioning, examination process, transparency, and data security protocol,” he had said.

Pradhan added that strict action would be taken against those found guilty, including officials from the NTA.