Amid the ongoing protest following the NEET-UG 2026 paper leak controversy, the National Testing Agency (NTA) has terminated 47 officials and is set to pursue legal and criminal action against some. It has also notified positions for new recruitments to strengthen the agency.
"The NTA is set to undergo an overhaul and more reformative actions will follow. At least 47 officials have been terminated, and legal and criminal action will be initiated against some of them," a senior official said.
NTA, an autonomous body under the Education Ministry, has this week issued advertisements for a set of senior professional appointments at the level of general manager and has separately opened the engagement of 16 young professionals through the Pratibha Setu portal of the Union Public Service Commission (UPSC).
The testing agency has also said that positions for four GMs on contract, each for an initial term of three years, have been notified. The general manager, assessment research and development and psychometrics, will head NTA’s academic and measurement-science function, with responsibility for item banks, normalisation methodology, equating and calibration procedures, and pilots on computer-adaptive testing and AI-assisted assessment.
“The general manager, test centre network and operations, will lead NTA’s nationwide test-centre footprint, spanning over 500 cities and select international centres, with responsibility for empanelment standards, capacity planning, centre quality, accessibility for candidates with benchmark disabilities, hygiene and amenities, examination-day operations, and coordination with state and district administrations,” the education ministry said.
The general manager, information security, designated as NTA’s chief information security officer, will head the cyber-security function of the agency and be responsible for the security of all NTA systems, applications, networks and data.
The general manager, vigilance, investigation and forensics, will head NTA’s internal vigilance, investigations and digital forensics function.
“Responsibilities include leading enquiries into suspected malpractice, building an in-house digital forensics capability, and coordinating with the Central Bureau of Investigation, the Intelligence Bureau, the Enforcement Directorate, State Police and Cyber-crime units on cases arising under the Public Examinations (Prevention of Unfair Means) Act, 2024,” the ministry said.
NTA recently informed the Parliament that it was functioning with only 24 permanent staff against 39 permanent posts. Since its inception in 2018, NTA has conducted over 270 examinations covering more than 6.6 crore candidate registrations.