Parliamentary Committee Report on the NTA: Findings on Leaks, Staffing, Contractors and Accountability
The Parliamentary Standing Committee on Education, Women, Children, Youth and Sports presented a report titled "Reforms and Strengthening of the National Testing Agency (NTA)". The committee is chaired by Rajya Sabha member Mukul Wasnik, and the report was submitted to the Chairman of the Rajya Sabha.
The report notes that the NTA is a society registered under the Societies Registration Act, 1860, not a body created by an Act of Parliament. So its accountability to Parliament is limited. The committee asked the government to bring a parliamentary framework that makes the NTA answerable to both Houses.
On staffing, the report found that only 23 of 39 sanctioned posts are filled (about 41% vacant). The posts are filled through deputation (officers on loan from other services for 2–3 years), and the top post of Director General was held as an additional charge for long periods between 2024 and 2026.
The report flagged heavy dependence on private contractors for paper setting, printing and logistics. It also flagged the lack of a nationwide blacklist, so a firm blacklisted in one state can still win contracts elsewhere.
The Ministry of Education told the committee that no NTA exam had a paper leak between 2017 and 2025. This claim has been publicly disputed, with nine reported instances of leaks and irregularities cited for that period. The report also mentions a revenue surplus of ₹590 crore that the NTA kept in fixed deposits.
The committee said the cancellation of NEET-UG 2026 (held on 3 May, cancelled on 12 May over paper-leak allegations, re-held on 21 June) shows that more reform is needed. It also called for public, centre-wise publication of NEET-UG results and full-time leadership in line with the K. Radhakrishnan Committee recommendations.
National Testing Agency (NTA)
The National Testing Agency is the body that conducts India's largest national entrance exams, such as NEET-UG (medical), JEE Main (engineering), CUET (central universities) and UGC-NET (lecturer eligibility). It works under the Ministry of Education. It is an autonomous society, not a statutory body, which is why questions about its accountability keep coming up. The full concept page explains its history, structure and the reforms suggested after the 2024 and 2026 crises.
The committee's report goes to the root of the NTA's problems: it is a society with thin permanent staff, part-time leadership and heavy reliance on contractors, and Parliament has little direct control over it. Its main recommendation, a law-based framework making the NTA answerable to Parliament, would change its legal character.
Departmentally Related Standing Committees (DRSCs)
Departmentally Related Standing Committees are small, permanent groups of MPs that closely examine the work of government ministries. Each committee looks after one or more ministries and studies their budgets, bills and chosen subjects. Their reports are advisory, so the government is not bound to accept them, but it must report back on what action it took. The full concept page explains how they are formed and how they work.
The NTA report is a typical example of a DRSC choosing a subject, questioning the ministry and suggesting reforms. Since its recommendations are not binding, what happens next depends on the government's reply, which the committee will later review in an Action Taken Report.
Public Examinations (Prevention of Unfair Means) Act, 2024
The Public Examinations (Prevention of Unfair Means) Act, 2024 is India's first central law against paper leaks and cheating rackets in major government exams. It covers exams held by bodies such as the UPSC, SSC, Railway Recruitment Boards, IBPS and the National Testing Agency. It makes paper leaks and similar acts serious crimes with long jail terms and heavy fines. In 2026, Parliament amended it to make the punishments much tougher and to speed up investigation and trials.
The parliamentary committee report comes after the 2026 amendment made punishments much tougher. The committee's findings (vacant posts, part-time leadership, weak vendor checks) show the other half of the problem: the law can punish leaks, but an under-staffed exam body relying on contractors makes leaks easier to happen in the first place.
- Report: "Reforms and Strengthening of the National Testing Agency (NTA)", by the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Education, Women, Children, Youth and Sports (chair: Mukul Wasnik, Rajya Sabha)
- NTA legal status: society under the Societies Registration Act, 1860; approved by the Union Cabinet in November 2017
- NTA staffing: 23 of 39 sanctioned posts filled (about 41% vacant), all through deputation
- Revenue surplus noted: ₹590 crore, kept in fixed deposits
- Ministry's claim: no paper leak in NTA exams from 2017 to 2025; nine reported instances of leaks and irregularities have been cited against this
- NEET-UG 2026: exam on 3 May, cancelled on 12 May, re-exam on 21 June; about 22.79 lakh registered candidates
- K. Radhakrishnan Committee: 7 members, set up June 2024, report October 2024, 101 recommendations
- Earlier reports of this committee on the NTA: 371st (December 2025) and 381st Action Taken Report (June 2026)
- DRSCs: 24 committees, 31 members each (21 Lok Sabha + 10 Rajya Sabha)
- Public Examinations (Prevention of Unfair Means) Act, 2024 in force from 21 June 2024; amended in 2026 (assent 31 July 2026)