In a follow-up meeting regarding the NTA, Union Education Minister Pralhad Joshi on Tuesday directed that all necessary security measures and requisite infrastructure be ensured for the smooth conduct of examinations. Following the Minister's directives, the Director General of the NTA provided an update on the actions taken so far.
600 experts have been replaced with new ones
He said comprehensive changes have been made to the examination team and 600 experts have been replaced with new ones. “A four-tier question paper verification system will be implemented to strengthen the scrutiny and review of question papers," he added. He further stated that 20–25 officials will be appointed over the next 2–3 weeks and plans for further appointments were reviewed.
Moreover, the NTA offices will be relocated to new premises on a war footing and the security arrangements at the new premises will be further strengthened through the deployment of CISF teams.
The Centre announced the major overhaul of the examination system at the National Testing Agency, including a four-tier paper checking process, removal of 600 experts along with onboarding of new ones and CISF-secured office premises.
Education Ministry has gone into overdrive to set things in order
Under fire over the recent lapses in the UGC-NET papers and earlier the NEET-UG exam paper leak, the Education Ministry has gone into overdrive to set things in order.
After a meeting was chaired on Monday by Education Minister Pralhad Joshi, who came in after his predecessor Dharmendra Pradhan had to resign following protests over the NEET-UG paper fiasco, the Ministry announced on Tuesday that Joshi had directed that all necessary security and related infrastructural facilities should be put in place for the smooth conduct of examinations.
Following directions from the Minister, NTA Director General Abhishek Singh apprised the ministry of actions taken by the Agency, which is responsible for several examinations in the country. The NTA office will be moved to Minto Road from Okhla in the national capital.
These decisions were taken after the NTA faced renewed flak from opposition parties and several protesting student groups following the Sunday night announcement of the re-test for the UGC-NET examination for scholars. They were demanding that the NTA be scrapped,saying its "repeated lapses" have put students' academic and career plans at risk.
NTA took decision in the interest of students
NTA sources, however, stated that it had acted in the interest of students and said internal processes and protocols are being reviewed to ensure that all exams are fair and error-free in the future.
The NTA proactively looked into the complaints and decided to conduct re-tests, with all corrective measures being taken in the overall interest of candidates and to strengthen the foundation of a more accountable examination system. Taking big action in the NEET paper leak controversy, the National Testing Agency terminated 47 officials in July. Later, it axed more officials, taking the total number to over 50.
However, 10 new professional leadership positions, including chief technology officer, chief finance officer, CISO, GM (test security) and GM (R and D and psychometrics), have been advertised and are being onboarded.
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