NTA terminates 47 officials amid major exam reform drive, more action ahead

The national agency in charge of competitive exams said legal and criminal proceedings would be initiated against some of the officials, and that more reformative actions are to follow.

In a major move to strengthen examination reforms, the National Testing Agency (NTA) on Friday said it has terminated the services of 47 officials on Friday. It said legal and criminal proceedings would be initiated against some of them, and that more reformative actions are to follow.  The crackdown follows days of unrest and protests - spearheaded by the so-called Cockroach Janta Party - across the nation against the leak of the National Eligibility-cum-Entrance Test (NEET-UG) question paper ahead of the national competitive exams for admissions into a medical college. The exams were cancelled, and re-conducted, but as many as 12 students are said to have died by suicide in the interim. 

Student groups are continuing to demand an independent probe into the alleged irregularities, action against those responsible, and reforms to improve transparency in the conduct of national-level examinations. The Neet-UG controversy has placed renewed scrutiny on the NTA's examination systems, including question paper security, monitoring mechanisms, and grievance redressal processes.  The NTA, set up in 2017, conducts several major entrance examinations, including NEET-UG, Joint Entrance Examination (JEE) Main and the Common University Entrance Test (CUET). The agency has faced growing criticism over examination management and is now undertaking a review of its internal processes.

 

Over the past few days, major cities in India, particularly the national capital of New Delhi, have seen protests - which occasionally turned violent - by thousands of youngster whose primary demand has been the resignation of Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan. A brutal crackdown by the Delhi Police further exacerbated matters, provoking a national outcry.  Following three days of protests, Prime Minister Narendra Modi late Thursday night took to Instagram - supposedly the preferred social media for Gen Z, which has been at the forefront of the protests - to promise strict action against those beind the question paper leak. Additionally, he said, the government would introduce amendments to the current law to introduce stricter action against anyone tampering with the country's examination systems.   On Friday, the Union Cabinet cleared a Bill proposing stricter punishment for examination paper leaks. The Bill, which is likely to reach Parliament next week, is also expected to include provisions to speed up prosecution, including the setting up of fast-track courts for paper leak cases.  Earlier on Thursday, the central government transferred Higher Education Secretary Vineet Joshi to the Panchayati Raj Ministry, replacing him with Naresh Kumar Gangwar. T K Anil Kumar has been brought in as the school education secretary.  Meanwhile, the CJP will hold another round of talks with the government on Saturday after nearly two hours of discussions on Friday failed to break the deadlock.

 

Following the meeting with Union ministers, CJP leader Saurav Das said the organisation had made it clear that its demand for the Pradhan's resignation was "non-negotiable". It has also sought compensation of ₹1 crore for the families of students who died by suicide and demanded that all FIRs filed against protesters be withdrawn. On Thursday, the government said it had agreed to activist Sonam Wangchuk's conditions for breaking his hunger strike; one of those was that cases filed against protesting students would not be pursued.