Congress Claims NTA Has Only 25 Permanent Staff, Outsources Key Tasks

Ajoy Kumar, overseeing Congress affairs in Odisha, Tamil Nadu, and Puducherry, has criticized the National Testing Agency (NTA), claiming it operates with fewer than 25 permanent employees while managing over two dozen major exams, including NEET UG. He accused the central government of jeopardizing students' futures by overloading the NTA.

Kumar highlighted the agency's heavy reliance on deputed and contractual staff, leading to critical tasks such as paper setting, distribution, and data security being outsourced to private technical service providers. He described this approach as risky for students' futures and criticized the government for burdening the NTA beyond its capacity.

Former education administrators and experts familiar with the NTA's operations echoed these concerns, noting its dependency on external experts and technical service providers due to a lack of internal expertise. Established in 2018 to function similarly to the Educational Testing Service (ETS) in the US, which employs over 200 staff members, the NTA operates with a lean team.

R Subrahmanyam, former secretary of the education ministry’s higher education department, defended the NTA's structure as a "lean, efficient entity" focusing on online exams with strong technical partners. However, concerns about vulnerabilities in exam security persist, especially with the agency expanding into pen-and-paper tests like this year's NEET.

Allegations of question paper leaks during exams like NEET UG have further fueled criticism of the NTA's capabilities. The agency, registered under the Societies Registration Act, 1860, has come under scrutiny for alleged irregularities and institutional failures in managing large-scale examinations.

Despite these challenges, the NTA continues to conduct significant exams such as JEE Main, CMAT, and CUET, prompting ongoing scrutiny over the integrity and management of these tests.