Education Minister Pralhad Joshi directs NTA to overhaul exam system on war footing; 50 staff removed
NEW DELHI: Education Minister Pralhad Joshi on Monday directed the National Testing Agency (NTA) to conduct a thorough audit of all its examination processes and submit a report on the corrective action taken regarding the multiple lapses in examinations held this year.Joshi held a meeting with the Higher Education Secretary, the Director General of the…
Key points
- The NTA had on Sunday announced a re-examination for three UGC-NET June 2026 subjects, English, Sociology and Commerce, due to…
- "Ten new professional leadership positions (Chief Technology Officer, Chief Finance Officer, CISO, GM, Test Security, GM, R&D and Psychometrics, and…
- Joshi held a meeting with the Higher Education Secretary, the Director General of the NTA and other senior office-holders.
- It had also cancelled the NEET UG examination on May 3 due to a question paper leak and held a…
NEW DELHI: Education Minister Pralhad Joshi on Monday directed the National Testing Agency (NTA) to conduct a thorough audit of all its examination processes and submit a report on the corrective action taken regarding the multiple lapses in examinations held this year.
The NTA had on Sunday announced a re-examination for three UGC-NET June 2026 subjects, English, Sociology and Commerce, due to multiple errors in their question papers.
It had also cancelled the NEET UG examination on May 3 due to a question paper leak and held a re-examination on June 21. The CUET-UG examination, held on May 30, too ended in controversy as 3,765 students could not take the test due to a technical glitch in the software.
Education Minister Shri @JoshiPralhad held a meeting with the Secretary, Department of Higher Education, DG @NTA_Exams, and other senior officials.
The Minister was apprised on the steps taken by NTA in the wake of recent issues, particularly with reference to reforming the… pic.twitter.com/D5r5jSY0q0
— Ministry of Education (@EduMinOfIndia) August 17, 2026
What happened
An official release from the Education Ministry said, “The Minister directed that strict compliance be ensured of the established exam protocols and also directed that a Complete overhaul of Confidential Operations (CONOPS) architecture, secluded rooms, air-gapped systems, device-deposit protocols be implemented on war footing.”
NTA officials briefed the minister on multiple matters, particularly the steps taken to reform the overall system.
More than 50 staff members at the NTA have been terminated, with strong legal or criminal action to be taken against some of them in connection with the NEET paper leak, they specified.
“Ten new professional leadership positions (Chief Technology Officer, Chief Finance Officer, CISO, GM, Test Security, GM, R&D and Psychometrics, and others) have been advertised and those hired are being on boarded.”
The details
Domain specialists are being brought in from the private sector for cyber-security, psychometrics, question-paper design and other specialised areas, the NTA added.
