The government has set up a seven-member panel to review the National Testing Agency (NTA). The panel's chairperson, K Radhakrishnan, announced that the first step will be to reach out to students and parents. They aim to gather concerns and suggestions to develop a robust and tamper-proof system for entrance exams in the country.
The panel, headed by K Radhakrishnan, former chairman of ISRO and the board of governors at IIT-Kanpur, will provide recommendations to the education ministry within the next two months. These recommendations will focus on reforming the examination process, enhancing data security protocols, and improving the structure and functioning of the NTA.
The panel held its first meeting on Monday at the IIT-Delhi campus.
Radhakrishnan stated that the committee will reach out to parents and students in person or through electronic media over the next two weeks.
Officials informed the committee about the current procedures followed by the National Testing Agency (NTA) for entrance examinations, the agency's technical expertise, and the recent irregularities observed during the NEET-UG and UGC-NET exams.
The panel was formed as the NTA faces scrutiny for alleged irregularities in the National Eligibility-cum-Entrance Test for Undergraduate programs (NEET-UG) this year, the cancellation of the University Grants Commission National Eligibility Test (UGC-NET) due to a paper leak on the darknet, and the postponement of the CSIR-UGC-NET.
Following the controversy, the government replaced NTA chief Subodh Kumar Singh with Indian Administrative Service officer Pradeep Singh Kharola.
The Radhakrishnan committee is composed of distinguished members, including former AIIMS-Delhi director Randeep Guleria, Hyderabad University vice chancellor Professor BJ Rao, and Professor Ramamurthy K from IIT Madras, among others.