Govt to form high-level committee to improve functioning of NTA: Pradhan

Calling paper leaks an institutional failure of NTA, Pradhan said that the reform committee will be notified in some days and will consist of technocrats, scientists, administrators, and academicians

Amid controversy over the cancellation of UGC-National Eligibility Test (NET) exams and irregularities in conducting the NEET-UG, Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan on Thursday announced that a high-level committee will be formed to look into the functioning of the National Testing Agency (NTA).

Addressing a press briefing, the education minister said that the government is committed to holding zero-error exams, with the committee being formed to improve NTA’s functioning.

Calling paper leaks an institutional failure of the NTA, Pradhan said that the reform committee will be notified in some days and will consist of technocrats, scientists, administrators, and academicians.

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

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

Explaining the ministry’s decision to cancel the UGC-NET exam a day after it was conducted, Pradhan said that the step was taken after the University Grants Commission (UGC) got inputs from the Indian Cybercrime Coordination Centre (I4C) that the integrity of the examination may have been compromised.

“Soon after it was clear that a UGC-NET question paper on the dark net matched the original question paper of UGC-NET, we decided to cancel the examination,” he added.

A fresh date for the exam is expected to be announced soon.

Speaking on the status of the investigation in the NEET controversy, Pradhan said that the ministry is in touch with the Bihar Police regarding the alleged paper leak. He added that the enquiry conducted till now shows evidence of errors in some regions.

“While everyone involved in the incident will be punished, isolated incidents of malpractices should not affect lakhs of students who cleared the examination rightfully,” he added.