NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court has directed the National Testing Agency (NTA) to inform it about the steps taken to implement recommendations of the K Radhakrishnan committee and the Nandan Nilekani-led task force on examination reforms.
The apex court said reforms in the NEET examination system need to be institutionalised and not depend on temporary or ad-hoc measures.
A bench comprising Justices PS Narasimha and Alok Aradhe directed Solicitor General Tushar Mehta to file a fresh affidavit on the measures taken by the NTA. The court was hearing petitions seeking structural reforms in the agency following controversies over NEET-UG.
The Centre informed the apex court that the existing NEET system had several safeguards for question-paper preparation and transportation.
Subject experts and moderators prepare questions for a common question bank, while experts are not told which questions will eventually be included in the examination paper.
The government said this is intended to ensure that no individual has access to the complete paper in advance. Question-paper vehicles are also fitted with GPS devices to track their movement, the NTA said.
The court’s intervention comes as the government moves ahead with a wider overhaul of the NTA.
The Education Ministry has removed 600 subject experts from the examination team and started bringing in new experts. Another 20 to 25 officials are expected to join the agency over the next two to three weeks.
The NTA will also introduce a four-tier system to scrutinise question papers. The checks are aimed at detecting factual, typographical, language and translation-related errors before papers reach candidates.
The existing process already involves subject experts, psychometricians and multiple rounds of review. The agency’s offices will be shifted from Okhla to the Government of India Press building on Minto Road in central Delhi. Security at NTA offices will be strengthened with Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) teams.
The overhaul follows repeated concerns over paper leaks and errors in major examinations, including NEET-UG and UGC-NET.