Amid the controversies over multiple competitive exams like NEET-UG and UGC-NET, the Union Education Ministry on 22 June constituted a High-Level Committee of Experts to ensure transparent, smooth and fair conduct of examinations. This comes two days after Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan announced the formation of a high-level committee to probe into the issues pertaining to the functioning of the National Testing Agency (NTA) amid the allegations of irregularities in the NEET-UG examination.
A press release issued by the ministry said that in order to ensure transparent, smooth and fair conduct of examinations through the National Testing Agency (NTA), the Department of Higher Education under the Ministry of Education gas constituted a High-Level Committee of Experts. The committee will make recommendations on Reform in the mechanism of the examination process, Improvement in Data Security protocols, and the Structure and functioning of the National Testing Agency.
Dr. K. Radhakrishnan, former ISRO chairman and Chairman BoG of IIT Kanpur, will be the chairman of the committee. Five other experts will be members of the committee, while a joint secretary of the ministry will be the member secretary.
The list of members of the experts committee is as follows:
- Dr. K. Radhakrishnan, Former Chairman, ISRO and Chairman BoG, IIT Kanpur –Chairman
- Dr. Randeep Guleria, Former Director, AIIMS Delhi – Member
- Prof. B J Rao, Vice Chancellor, Central University of Hyderabad – Member
- Prof. Ramamurthy K, Professor Emeritus, Department of Civil Engineering, IIT Madras – Member
- Shri Pankaj Bansal, Co-Founder, People Strong and Board Member, Karmayogi Bharat –Member
- Prof. Aditya Mittal, Dean Student Affairs, IIT Delhi – Member
- Shri Govind Jaiswal, Joint Secretary, Ministry of Education, Govt. of India – Member Secretary
The Terms of Reference of the committee are as follows:
(i) Reform in mechanism of examination process
(a) To analyse the end-to-end examination process and suggest measures to improve efficiency of the system and to forestall any possible breach.
(b) To conduct a thorough review of the Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs)/Protocols of the NTA, and suggest measures to strengthen these procedures/protocols along with monitoring mechanism to ensure compliance at every level.
(ii) Improvement in Data Security protocols
(a) To evaluate the existing data security processes and protocols of NTA and recommend measures for its improvement.
(b) To examine existing security protocols related to the paper-setting and other processes for different examinations and make recommendations to enhance robustness of system.
(iii) Structure & Functioning of National Testing Agency
(a) To make recommendations on the organizational structure and functioning of the National Testing Agency (NTA) for implementation of recommendations given under point (i) and (ii) and clearly defining the roles and responsibilities of functionaries at every level.
(b) Assess the current Grievance Redressal Mechanism of the NTA, identify areas of improvement and make recommendations for enhancing its efficiency.
The Committee has been asked to submit its report to the Ministry within two months from the date of issue of this order. The press release said that the Committee can co-opt any Subject Matter Expert to assist them.
