Lok Sabha Question No. 2 (STARRED), answered on 2024-07-22
Subject: Overhauling of NTA
Ministry: EDUCATION
Asked by: Shri Manickam Tagore B, Dr. Kalanidhi Veeraswamy

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF EDUCATION DEPARTMENT OF HIGHER EDUCATION

## LOK SABHA STARRED QUESTION NO. *2 ANSWERED ON 22.07.2024

## Overhauling of NTA

- *2. SHRI MANICKAM TAGORE B: DR. KALANIDHI VEERASWAMY:

Will the Minister of EDUCATION be pleased to state:

- (a) whether  it  is  a  fact  that  the  Government  is  considering  to  make  an  overhaul  of  the  National Testing  Agency  in  the  wake  of  leak  of  papers  of  the  National  Eligibility-cum-Entrance  Test (NEET-UG) recently; (b) whether it  is  also  true  that  over  24  lakh  students  were  affected  because  of  the  leak  of  NEET papers, if so, the details thereof; (c) whether seventy such papers were leaked affecting more than two crore students during the last seven years; (d)  the steps taken/being taken by the Government to safeguard the future of the students; and (e)  whether  the  Government  is  considering  to  scrap  NEET  examinations  as  demanded  by  many
- States, especially Tamil Nadu, if so, the details thereof?

## ANSWER

## MINISTER OF EDUCATION (SHRI DHARMENDRA PRADHAN)

(a) to (e): A Statement is laid on the table of the House.

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STATEMENT REFERRED TO IN REPLY TO PARTS (a) TO (e) IN RESPECT OF LOK SABHA STARRED  QUESTION  NO.  *2  FOR  REPLY  ON  22.07.2024  REGARDING  'OVERHAULING  OF NTA'  ASKED  BY  SHRI  MANICKAM  TAGORE  B,  DR.  KALANIDHI  VEERASWAMY,  HON'BLE MEMBER(S) OF PARLIAMENT

## (a) to (e):

- The NEET(UG) 2024 Examination was conducted by the National Testing Agency (NTA) on 5th May 2024 at 4750 Centres in 571 cities (including 14 Cities abroad).
- 24,06,079  candidates  registered  for  the  examination,  out  of  which  23,33,297  candidates appeared  in  the  same.  After  the  conduct  of  NEET(UG)  2024  Examination,  certain  cases  of alleged irregularities/cheating/malpractices were reported. In only one instance, there has been a likely  breach  of  chain  of  custody  of  Question  Paper.  The  Ministry  of  Education  has  asked  the Central Bureau of Investigation to conduct a comprehensive investigation into the entire gamut of alleged irregularities including conspiracy, cheating, breach of trust etc. w.r.t. the NEET(UG) 2024 Examination.
- NTA  was  established  in  2018  as  a  specialised  body  to  conduct  examinations  for  entrance  to Higher  Education  Institutions.  Since  its  inception,  NTA  has  conducted  over  240  examinations involving more than 5.4 crore students.
- Further,  to  suggest  effective  measures  for  conducting  transparent,  smooth  and  fair  conduct  of examinations by the NTA. the Ministry of Education has constituted a High-Level Committee of Experts to  make  recommendations  on  Reforms  in  mechanism  of  examination process, Improvement in Data Security protocols and Structure and functioning of NTA. The Committee comprises of the following experts:
- The Committee has also co-opted two more members i.e., Prof. Amey Karkare, Professor of Computer Science and Engineering, IIT Kanpur and Dr. Debapriya Roy, Assistant Professor, IIT Kanpur.

|   1 | Dr. K. Radhakrishnan, Former Chairman, ISRO and Chairman BoG, IIT Kanpur.            | Chairman         |
|-----|--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|------------------|
|   2 | Dr. Randeep Guleria, Former Director, AIIMS Delhi.                                   | Member           |
|   3 | Prof. B J Rao, Vice Chancellor, Central University of Hyderabad.                     | Member           |
|   4 | Prof. Ramamurthy K, Professor Emeritus, Department of Civil Engineering, IIT Madras. | Member           |
|   5 | Shri Pankaj Bansal, Co-Founder, People Strong and Board Member- Karmayogi Bharat.    | Member           |
|   6 | Prof. Aditya Mittal, Dean Student Affairs, IIT Delhi                                 | Member           |
|   7 | Shri Govind Jaiswal , Joint Secretary, Ministry of Education, Govt. of India         | Member Secretary |

The Terms of Reference of the Committee is attached as Annexure .

- As a deterrence to unfair means in public examinations, the Central Government has enacted the Public Examination (Prevention of Unfair Means) Act 2024. This Act has come into force w.e.f. 21st June, 2024 and Rules have also been notified thereunder on 23rd June, 2024.
- At present, there is no proposal to scrap the NEET(UG) Examination.

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ANNEXURE  REFERRED  TO  PART  (A)  to  (E)  OF  THE  REPLY  OF  LOK  SABHA  STARRED QUESTION NO. *2 ANSWERED ON 22.07.2024 ASKED BY SHRI MANICKAM TAGORE B, DR. KALANIDHI VEERASWAMY, HON'BLE MEMBERS OF PARLIAMENT REGARDING 'OVERHAULING OF NTA'

## Terms of Reference of the High Level Committee of Experts

## (i) Reform in mechanism of examination process

- (a) To  analyse  the  end-to-end  examination  process  and  suggest  measures  to  improve efficiency of the system and to forestall any possible breach.
- (b) To conduct a thorough review of the Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs)/Protocols of the  NTA,  and  suggest  measures  to  strengthen  these  procedures/protocols  along  with monitoring mechanism to ensure compliance at every level.

## (ii) Improvement in Data Security protocols

- (a) To  evaluate  the  existing  data  security  processes  and  protocols  of  NTA  and recommend measures for its improvement.
- (b) To examine existing security protocols related to the paper-setting and other processes for different examinations and make recommendations to enhance robustness of system.

## (iii) Structure & Functioning of National Testing Agency

- (a) To make recommendations on the organizational structure and functioning of the National Testing Agency (NTA) for implementation of recommendations given under point 3(i) and 3(ii) and clearly defining the roles and responsibilities of functionaries at every level.
- (b) Assess  the  current  Grievance  Redressal  Mechanism  of  the  NTA,  identify  areas  of improvement and make recommendations for enhancing its efficiency.