Under fire over the recent lapses in the UGC-NET papers and earlier the NEET-UG medical exam paper leak, the Education Ministry has been in an overdrive to set things in order.
Weeks after the NEET-UG paper leak controversy triggered nationwide protests, the National Testing Agency (NTA) announced a major overhaul of its examination system, including a four-tier question paper scrutiny process, the removal of 600 experts and the induction of new personnel.
The agency will also shift its offices to new premises where security will be reinforced with Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) teams, the Education Ministry said on Monday.
The decisions were announced after a meeting chaired by Education Minister Pralhad Joshi. During the meeting, Joshi directed officials to ensure that all necessary security and infrastructure-related measures were put in place for the smooth and secure conduct of examinations.
NTA Director General Abhishek Singh briefed the ministry on the steps taken by the agency, which conducts several major examinations across the country.
“A revamp of the examination team was undertaken with 600 experts being removed and new experts being onboarded,” the ministry said.
As part of the overhaul, a four-tier question paper checking system will be introduced to strengthen the scrutiny of examination papers and minimise the possibility of errors.
The ministry also said that 20-25 officials would be inducted into the NTA over the next two to three weeks, while a further recruitment and induction plan was reviewed during the meeting.
NTA Offices To Get CISF Security
The NTA will also shift its offices to new premises on a “war footing”, with security at the new locations to be strengthened through CISF deployment.
The agency has faced renewed scrutiny following the decision to re-conduct examinations in three UGC-NET subjects after errors were detected in the question papers.
The Education Ministry has directed the NTA to conduct a comprehensive audit of its examination processes and submit a report detailing the corrective measures taken.
Student Groups Protest Against NTA
The latest measures come amid continuing criticism of the NTA from student organisations.
Several student groups, including the National Students’ Union of India (NSUI), Students’ Federation of India (SFI), All India Students’ Association (AISA) and Krantikari Yuva Sangathan (KYS), held protests in Delhi on Monday and announced plans for nationwide demonstrations against the decision to re-conduct the UGC-NET examinations.
The Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP), the student wing of the RSS, also expressed concern over the issue. Its National General Secretary Virendra Singh Solanki said students’ futures could not be compromised and that the NTA must be held accountable.
Why Is UGC-NET Being Re-Conducted?
The NTA conducted the UGC-NET June 2026 examination between June 22 and 30 across 87 subjects for the award of Junior Research Fellowship, eligibility for assistant professorships and admission to PhD programmes.
The agency received several complaints regarding multiple errors in question papers for three subjects. It subsequently constituted a committee to examine the reported lapses.
According to the NTA, the committee identified anomalies in all three subjects and recommended that the papers be re-conducted to ensure a fair and error-free examination.
“The committee identified the anomalies in the three subjects and recommended that, in the interest of holding a fair and error-free examination, these three papers should be re-conducted,” the NTA said.
It added that papers containing such defects did not meet the required standards of fairness and an error-free examination.