Senior officials from the Union Education Ministry, the National Testing Agency and the Central Bureau of Investigation have been called before a parliamentary panel as scrutiny intensifies over the integrity of national entrance examinations and the handling of paper-leak investigations.
The Committee on Government Assurances is scheduled to hear the officials at 11am on Friday, following a notice issued by the Rajya Sabha Secretariat on May 27. The proceedings relate to an assurance given in the Upper House in response to an unstarred question dated November 27, 2024, on the conduct of examinations by the NTA.
The panel is expected to hear the views of Vineet Joshi, Secretary of the Department of Higher Education, NTA Director General Abhishek Singh and CBI Director Praveen Sood. The summons places examination governance, vendor accountability and criminal investigation of alleged leaks under a single parliamentary lens at a time when public confidence in centralised testing remains under pressure.
The November 2024 assurance dealt with the way NTA awards contracts to private agencies, complaints against vendors, and the status of the NEET-UG 2024 paper-leak investigation. The Education Ministry had informed the Rajya Sabha that contracts for examinations were awarded in line with applicable rules, orders and guidelines, while complaints against vendors were dealt with under the terms of work orders and tender documents. Penalties could range from deductions in payment to debarment after deficiency in service was established.
The same reply stated that the CBI had been asked to conduct a comprehensive investigation into alleged irregularities in NEET-UG 2024, including conspiracy, cheating and breach of trust. By November 22, 2024, the agency had filed five charge sheets against 45 accused. The reply also said candidates who benefited from paper theft or unfair means, as well as MBBS students accused of solving stolen papers or appearing as impersonators, had been identified and referred to the authorities concerned for action.
The issue has acquired fresh urgency after NEET-UG for medical admissions this year was held on May 3 and cancelled on May 12 following allegations of a paper leak. The matter is under CBI investigation, while a retest has been scheduled for June 21. The cancellation has revived questions over whether safeguards introduced after the 2024 controversy were sufficient and whether the NTA’s systems can withstand organised attempts to compromise high-stakes examinations.
NTA’s role has expanded sharply since its establishment in 2018. It has conducted more than 250 examinations involving more than 5.5 crore candidates, covering medical, engineering, university entrance and eligibility tests. The scale of its operations has made it central to access to higher education, but also highly vulnerable to failures in logistics, cybersecurity, centre management and vendor supervision.
NEET-UG 2024 had drawn nationwide attention after irregularities were alleged in an examination taken by more than 23.33 lakh candidates out of about 24.06 lakh registered applicants. The test was conducted on May 5, 2024, across 4,750 centres in 571 cities, including 14 cities abroad. The Supreme Court declined to cancel that examination after finding insufficient evidence of a systemic leak, but it criticised administrative lapses and called for stronger safeguards.
The government constituted a high-level committee of experts on June 22, 2024, headed by former ISRO chairman K Radhakrishnan, to recommend reforms in examination processes, data security protocols and the structure and functioning of NTA. The panel submitted its report on October 21, 2024, proposing measures aimed at strengthening centre selection, institutional coordination with states, technological safeguards, and accountability mechanisms.
The parliamentary hearing is likely to examine how far those recommendations have been translated into operational changes. Key concerns include the role of private vendors, the chain of custody for question papers, centre-level surveillance, digital security, grievance redressal and the speed with which criminal findings are shared with education regulators.
The panel will also hear officials from the Union Health and Family Welfare Ministry, the National Medical Commission and the CBI on a separate assurance linked to an alleged medical college scam. That matter concerns claims of dummy faculty, fake inspections and falsified patient records, issues that directly affect regulatory oversight of medical education.
