Set up in 2018, the National Testing Agency (NTA) has been plagued by operational problems, including technical glitches, language errors, and exam-centre allocation issues. The agency's troubles predate the current crisis, with experts tracing the issues to excessive dependence on outsourcing and a chronic shortage of permanent staff.
Since 2024, the problems have grown more serious, with the NEET-UG 2024 controversy, the leak-linked cancellation and re-conduct of UGC-NET, and the postponement of three exams. A parliamentary panel found major issues in at least five of the 14 competitive examinations NTA conducted in 2024 and early 2025.
The government's response was the Radhakrishnan committee, which recommended structural strengthening of NTA, tighter oversight of outsourced vendors, and stronger safeguards for tests. However, some of these recommendations remain unimplemented, and the agency continues to rely on contractual staff.
A member of the Radhakrishnan panel said the reforms adopted so far have tightened midstream and downstream processes but have not addressed the core problem of NTA's overdependence on contractual staff. The vulnerability runs deep into the question-paper preparation process, with experts engaged in setting questions largely being contractual workers.
The parliamentary panel drew the same conclusion, recommending that NTA build greater in-house capacity and deploy its surplus funds to strengthen internal capacities.
