Education Minister calls for proper security, infrastructural facilities for smooth conduct of NTA exams

New Delhi, Aug 18 (IANS) Union Education Minister Pralhad Joshi on Tuesday held a review meeting on the National Testing Agency (NTA) and directed all concerned to put in place necessary security and related infrastructural facilities for the smooth conduct of examinations following the recent cancellation of three University Grants Commission-National Eligibility Test (UGC-NET) tests after errors were reported in the question papers.

The UGC-NET is held to determine the eligibility for appointment as Assistant Professor, admission to PhD courses, and for the award of Junior Research Fellowship in universities.

The NTA came under sharp scrutiny over the cancellation of the UGC-NET examinations for English, Commerce, and Sociology after several errors and anomalies were found in the question papers.

The issue has raised questions on accountability, adding to the growing criticism over its handling of competitive examinations.

The English and Commerce re-examinations are to be re-conducted on September 9, while for Sociology, the scheduled date is September 10.

Following directions from the Union Minister, the NTA Director General Abhishek Singh appraised of the actions to be initiated. These include a revamp of the examination team, undertaken with 600 experts being removed and new experts being onboarded.

Additionally, a four-tier question paper checking system will be put in place to strengthen the scrutiny of examination papers.

Meanwhile, 20-25 officials are to be inducted in next two to three weeks.

Further induction plan was also reviewed, a Ministry statement said.

The NTA offices will be shifted to the new premises on a war footing where security will be reinforced with CISF teams, it added.

This controversy follows the earlier cancellation of NEET-UG 2026 examination after a paper leak that resulted in widespread protests.

Nationwide demonstrations eventually led to the resignation of the then Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan.

The incumbent Minister has already directed the NTA to overhaul its confidential operations architecture and audit its examination systems on a war footing.

More than 50 staff members were removed earlier as part of a major overhaul to address systemic failures.

The agency is also hiring domain specialists from the private sector for cyber security, psychometrics, and question-paper design.

–IANS

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