Parliamentry panel summons NTA chief after NEET paper leak; reform in focus

NEW DELHI: A parliamentary panel Monday summoned the National Testing Agency (NTA) chief to review reforms in the backdrop of the NEET-UG paper leak that has raised serious concerns about the procedural flaws in the conduting of the country's one of the most tedious and competitive examination.

NTA chairperson Pradeep Kumar Joshi and other bureaucrats have been summoned for deliberations on May 21.

The Parliamentary Standing Committee on Education, Women, Children, Youth and Sports will seek the views of top education ministry bureaucrats on the alleged paper leak and reforms of NTA, which holds centralised admission tests to various undergraduate courses, on May 21, a Rajya Sabha notice said according to PTI.





The agenda includes a review of the implementation of the K Radhakrishnan Committee report on NTA reforms and an update on the investigation into the alleged NEET-UG paper leak case. The committee, headed by Congress leader Digvijaya Singh, has also summoned the secretary, department of higher education, ministry of education, Vineet Joshi.

The NTA cancelled the National Eligibility cum Entrance Exam (Undergraduate) held on May 3 amid allegations of irregularities. Nearly 23 lakh candidates had registered for the test, which was administered by the NTA across the country.

According to the NTA, information regarding the alleged malpractice was received on the evening of May 7, four days after the examination was conducted.

Education minister Dharmendra Pradhan on Friday announced that the NEET-UG re-examination would be held on June 21 and said the medical entrance test would shift to a computer-based format from next year.

The panel is also set to discuss the impact of Artificial Intelligence (AI) on the education sector and ways to improve students’ employability. Representatives from Anthropic India, Pratham, IIT Kanpur, Infosys and IIT Madras have been invited for the deliberations.

In a separate sitting, the committee will hold discussions with the vice-chancellor of Aligarh Muslim University (AMU) and the chairperson of the National Commission for Minority Educational Institutions (NCMEI) on issues concerning educational institutions, including implementation of reservations, vacancies and the National Education Policy (NEP).

The panel will further review its 379th report on action taken by the government on recommendations made in the 365th report concerning Demands for Grants 2025-26 of the Ministry of Women and Child Development.

It will also examine the 380th report on action taken regarding recommendations in the 368th report on the functioning of the National Council for Teacher Education (NCTE) and teacher training initiatives under NEP 2020.