House panel grills NTA over failure to account for Rs 10 crore spending

NEW DELHI: A parliamentary panel on Wednesday questioned the National Testing Agency (NTA) over its failure to furnish utilisation certificates for Rs 10 crore of administration funding, seeking to know whether the financial lapse had affected examination infrastructure, security, technology or other.

Key points

• The NTA had received a total of Rs 25 crore from the administration, including seed funding provided after it was set up in 2017.
• Sources remarked the Ministry of Education assured the panel that the outstanding certificates would be submitted within 60 days.
• The matter was figured out during the PAC's examination of the "Outstanding Utilisation Certificates", based on the CAG report.
• During the session, Venugopal sought to link the accounting lapse to the NTA's core responsibility of conducting examinations that determine admission and career opportunities for lakhs of students.
• The panel additionally sought details on whether any examination-related activity had been delayed, compromised or adversely affected as of the pending certificates.

Meanwhile, the Public Accounts Committee (PAC), headed by Congress MP K C Venugopal, took up the matter while examining outstanding utilisation certificates (UC) of various ministries, flagged by the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG), sources stated.

In practice, the NTA had received a total of Rs 25 crore from the administration, including seed funding provided after it was set up in 2017. Utilisation certificates for Rs 10 crore remain pending, according to the matter taken up before the committee.

Meanwhile, the matter was figured out during the PAC's examination of the "Outstanding Utilisation Certificates", based on the CAG report. The session was attended by representatives of the Ministry of Finance and the Ministry of Education, among others.

As sources indicate, the PAC chairman asked the ministry to explain whether the non furnishing of utilisation certificates had in any way affected the timely flow of funds to the NTA or the functioning of the agency and institutions associated with the examinations it conducts.

In practice, the panel additionally sought details on whether any examination-related activity had been delayed, compromised or adversely affected as of the pending certificates.

Given the NTA's role in conducting some of the biggest entrance and eligibility examinations, the chairman additionally raised concern over the examination infrastructure, technology, security arrangements, manpower, testing centres, evaluation and result processing, besides other essential services.

Sources remarked Venugopal sought to know safeguards put in place to protect the fairness, reliability, transparency and timely conduct of examinations and ensure that shortcomings in financial management did not adversely affect students' academic and career prospects.

In short, house panel grills NTA over failure to account for Rs 10 crore is the central thread here, and readers can expect follow-up reporting as the picture becomes clearer.