Six education policy experts and former university administrators submitted a 34-page reform memorandum to Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan’s office on 12 May 2026, demanding Parliament pass a dedicated NTA Act to replace the gazette-notification arrangement that has governed the National Testing Agency (NTA) since November 2017.
The core demand
The panel — which includes former University Grants Commission (UGC) member Prof. Rajan Saxena and faculty from the National Institute of Educational Planning and Administration (NIEPA) — argues that NTA’s registered-society status leaves it with no statutory audit mandate and no enforceable accountability chain. A parliamentary act, they contend, is the minimum fix.
“NTA was set up by a gazette notification in 2017, not by law. That single fact explains why accountability mechanisms have repeatedly failed. A statutory body answerable to Parliament is the minimum reform required.”
Prof. Rajan Saxena, Former UGC Member · Reform Memorandum, Ministry of Education · 12 May 2026
Three structural failures identified
The memorandum names three recurring gaps. NTA has no independent technical audit board — question-paper security is handled internally. Exam centres are empanelled by state liaison offices without a uniform technology standard, creating openings for malpractice. Candidate grievance redressal carries no statutory timeline, leaving students in legal limbo for months.
The 2024 NEET-UG leak exposed all three simultaneously. The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) registered 6 cases across Bihar, Rajasthan, Gujarat, Maharashtra, and Jharkhand. Over 24 lakh candidates had sat the exam. The Supreme Court bench of Chief Justice D.Y. Chandrachud ordered a partial re-test for 1,563 candidates at specific centres in July 2024.
ℹ️ NTA: Key Background
- NTA established via gazette notification S.O. 3601(E), November 2017, under the Department of Higher Education
- Conducts 16 national-level entrance exams including NEET-UG, JEE Main, CUET-UG, and UGC-NET
- FY2025-26 budget allocation: ₹186 crore from the Ministry of Education
- K. Sanjay Murthy Committee (2024) proposed process changes but stopped short of recommending statutory status
What a reformed NTA would look like
The panel proposes a three-tier model: a statutory NTA board with nominees from the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) of India and the Ministry of Law; an independent Technical Audit Council with cybersecurity and psychometrics specialists; and a Candidate Grievance Tribunal with a 30-day resolution mandate.
The memorandum also recommends capping NTA’s direct portfolio at 10 high-stakes exams per year and routing lower-stakes assessments to state-level bodies — a structural change that would eliminate the single-point-of-failure risk the 2024 crisis made visible. The K. Sanjay Murthy Committee’s 2024 interim report had proposed operational fixes but did not recommend statutory conversion, leaving the deeper governance question unresolved.
FAQ
Is NTA a government body?
What happened in the 2024 NEET-UG controversy?
What is the K. Sanjay Murthy Committee?
Parliament’s Standing Committee on Education, chaired by Lok Sabha MP Dr. Sanjay Jaiswal, is scheduled to table its own NTA governance review by 30 June 2026. That report will determine whether legislation moves in the monsoon session of Parliament, expected to begin in July 2026.
