Lok Sabha Question No. 111 (STARRED), answered on 2019-02-11
Subject: National Testing Agency
Ministry: HUMAN RESOURCE DEVELOPMENT
Asked by: MURALI MOHAN MAGANTI

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF HUMAN RESOURCE DEVELOPMENT DEPARTMENT OF HIGHER EDUCATION

## LOK SABHA TO BE ANSWERED ON 11.02.2019

## STARRED QUESTION NO. 111 National Testing Agency

## *111. SHRI M. MURALI MOHAN:

Will the Minister of HUMAN RESOURCE DEVELOPMENT be pleased to state:

- (a) whether  the  National  Testing  Agency  proposes  to  conduct  the  Joint Entrance Examination Main and National Entrance Eligibility Test twice a year from 2019 onwards in online mode;
- (b) if  so,  whether  the  modalities  regarding  fee  structure,  syllabi,  exam pattern, etc. for both exams are the same or different;
- (c) the  details  of  such  modalities  for  the  two  exams  along  with  the modalities for establishment of computer centres in rural areas; and
- (d) whether his Ministry is contemplating to conduct AIIMS/JIPMER exam twice a year from 2019 onwards and if so, the details thereof?

## ANSWER

## MINISTER OF HUMAN RESOURCE DEVELOPMENT (SHRI PRAKASH JAVADEKAR)

(a) to (d): A statement is laid on the Table of the House. *****

STATEMENT  REFERRED  TO  IN  REPLY  TO  PARTS  (a)  TO  (d)  OF  LOK

SABHA STARRED QUESTION NO. 111 TO BE ANSWERED ON 11.02.2019 REGARDING  'NATIONAL  TESTING  AGENCY'  RAISED  BY  SHRI  M. MURALI MOHAN: (a) to (d) : The Government has established National Testing Agency (NTA) as a  premier  testing  organization  to  conduct  entrance/fellowship  examinations to the higher education institutions. The National Testing Agency designs and executes  examinations  which  are  standardized,  reliable and  technically sound. NTA undertakes computer based tests while protecting the interests of the rural students by giving them various options to practice free of cost. So far,  NTA  has  conducted  UGC-NET,  JEE  (Main),  GPAT,  CMAT  successfully using  computer  based  systems.  In  order  to  protect  the  interests  of  the students  and  to  provide  them  options  to  improve  their  performance,  NTA proposes to take examination multiple times each year and taking the best score for calculating ranks. In case of National Eligibility cum Entrance Test (NEET-UG), the Ministry of Health & Family Welfare requested that for the time being entrance tests may be  conducted  on  pen  and  paper  mode.  Accordingly,  for  the  year  2019-20, NEET-UG  examination  is  being  conducted  on  pen  and  paper  mode  in  the month of May, 2019. As far as the fee structure, syllabi and exam pattern are concerned, for each of the two JEE (Main) Exams, fee for General and OBC candidates in India is Rs.500/- for boys and 250/- for girls. For SC/ST candidates, it is Rs.250/both for boys and girls. For NEET-UG Examination, the fee is Rs.1400/- for General and OBC and Rs.750/- for other reserved category candidates.  The syllabi for both JEE (Main) and NEET is based on Class XI and XII syllabus and pattern is Multiple Choice Question (MCQ). In order to serve the requirements of the rural students, NTA has established a  network  of  about  3,400  Test  Practice  Centres  (TPCs)  in  educational institutions  across  the  country  spread  over  622  Districts  in  33  States/UTs thereby  enabling  students  to  practice  through  mock  tests  in  the  CBT environment.  NTA has also launched a 'mobile app' through which students can practice or take mock tests on their own computers or smart phones.  All these services are provided to the students free of cost. NTA does not conduct AIIMS/JIPMER examinations.

*****