New Delhi: Underneath fireplace over a re-test in three UGC-NET topics after errors in examination papers, the Nationwide Testing Company (NTA) went into harm management on Monday, August 17, by eradicating greater than 50 of its workers members and roping in professionals for key management positions as a part of measures to reform the general examination system.
The event got here because the NTA confronted renewed flak from opposition events and a number of other scholar teams, which held protests right here following the Sunday night time announcement of the retest, demanding that the NTA be scrapped as its “repeated lapses” have put college students’ educational and profession plans in danger.
NTA sources, nonetheless, asserted that it had acted within the curiosity of scholars and stated inside processes and protocols are being reviewed to make sure that all exams are truthful and error-free sooner or later.
The company proactively appeared into the complaints and determined to conduct re-tests, with all corrective measures being taken within the general curiosity of candidates and to strengthen the muse of a extra accountable examination system, the sources stated.
Schooling Minister Pralhad Joshi, who was given cost after Dharmendra Pradhan needed to resign resulting from widespread scholar protests over paper leak within the NEET-UG examination, held a gathering with the secretary within the Division of Increased Schooling, the NTA director normal and different senior officers.
He was apprised of the steps taken by the company within the wake of current points and reforming the general examination system, the ministry stated.
He was knowledgeable that greater than 50 workers have been faraway from the NTA, the ministry added.
Ten new skilled management positions, together with chief expertise officer, chief finance officer, CISO, GM (check safety) and GM (R and D and psychometrics), have been marketed and are being onboarded, the ministry stated.
Area specialists are additionally being introduced in from the personal sector for cybersecurity, psychometrics, query paper design and different specialised areas, it stated.
The minister directed that strict compliance be ensured with the established examination protocols and {that a} full overhaul of the confidential operations (CONOPS) structure, secluded rooms, air-gapped techniques, and gadget deposit protocols be applied on a warfare footing, the ministry stated.
The NTA has been directed to conduct a radical audit of all examination processes and submit a report on the corrective actions taken, the ministry stated.
Joshi later posted on X that the dialogue targeted on strengthening the schooling ecosystem via bigger reforms, with emphasis on driving transformative adjustments and strengthening the foundations of India’s schooling system.
“We additionally deliberated on essential points relating to highschool and better schooling, with a give attention to addressing key challenges and guaranteeing a extra sturdy, responsive and future-ready schooling system,” he stated.
Congress chief Rahul Gandhi focused the Modi authorities and demanded that the NTA’s management be held accountable.
In a publish on X, he alleged that “that is not an schooling system. It’s an extraction machine”. He stated the resignation of Dharmendra Pradhan was step one, not the final. “NTA’s management should be held accountable too,” he demanded.
A number of scholar organisations on Monday held protests in Delhi and introduced nationwide demonstrations in opposition to the NTA’s determination to re-conduct the UGC-NET examinations.
These included the Nationwide College students Union of India (NSUI), College students’ Federation of India (SFI), All India College students’ Affiliation (AISA) and Krantikari Yuva Sangathan (KYS),
Even the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP), the scholar wing of the RSS, expressed severe concern over the difficulty, with its Nationwide Common Secretary Virendra Singh Solanki, saying that college students’ future can’t be compromised and the NTA should be held accountable.
A number of different Congress leaders additionally slammed the federal government, saying college students have been paying the value for the NTA’s inefficiency and that the get together is not going to cease till Prime Minister Narendra Modi solutions for college kids’ years being “stolen”.
In a publish on X, the Aam Aadmi Celebration (AAP) stated the difficulty was not a “minor error” however a failure that was costing college students their time, cash, psychological peace and alternatives.
The English and Commerce papers will probably be held on September 9, whereas the examination for Sociology will probably be performed on September 10.
The NTA performed the UGC-NET June 2026 from June 22 to 30 throughout 87 topics for the award of junior analysis fellowship, eligibility for assistant professors, and admission to PhD programmes.
“The duty of an examination-conducting company shouldn’t be solely to conduct error-free examinations, but in addition to behave promptly and actually at any time when an anomaly is discovered,” a supply stated.
The NTA has taken the accountability of acknowledging that one thing had gone fallacious in these papers and for taking corrective motion, at value to itself, fairly than papering over the issue, the supply added.
“The willingness to establish issues proactively, to confess them, and to behave, even the place motion is troublesome, is itself the muse of a extra accountable examination system.
“An company that conducts examinations at this scale will sometimes encounter issues; what defines its credibility is that it finds them, owns them, and corrects them within the curiosity of candidates,” the supply stated.
The NTA stated it obtained a number of complaints about a number of errors in three papers, following which it fashioned a committee to look into the lapses.
“The committee recognized the anomalies within the three topics and really helpful that, within the curiosity of holding a good and error-free examination, these three papers must be re-conducted. It was really helpful that papers carrying such defects didn’t meet the requirements of equity and error-free examination,” the NTA stated.
