A Parliamentary committee has asked the National Testing Agency (NTA) to clarify what constitutes a ‘Paper Leak’ under its definition. Committee also asked whether any question paper of examination conducted since 2018 has been leaked. According to sources, the query was raised after NTA officials appeared before the committee last week.

Officials reportedly informed the committee that no paper leak had occurred through NTA's system, only some questions from a ‘Guess Paper’ had circulated in advance and were later portrayed as a paper leak.  

Congress Rajya Sabha MP Digvijaya Singh led Parliamentary Standing Committee on education is investigating the NEET paper leak case and concerns related to CBSE's On-Screen Marking (OSM) system.

Senior officials from the NTA, including its Director General, were called to explain the functioning of the agency and answer questions regarding examination security and alleged irregularities.

NTA Faces Questions Over Security

The committee has also sought to know whether the NTA carried out any investigation of its own into allegations of irregularities in the NEET-UG 2024 question paper, apart from the CBI probe. It has further asked for details of the agency’s workforce over the past three years, including recruitments made since 2022, and has sought a copy of its annual report submitted to the Higher Education Department.

Sources said the committee has asked the NTA to provide a detailed update on each of the 101 recommendations made by the Radhakrishnan Committee and the steps taken to implement them.

The expert committee, headed by former ISRO chief K. Radhakrishnan, was set up by the Centre in June 2024 in the wake of the NEET controversy. 

It was tasked with suggesting ways to make examinations conducted by the NTA more transparent, secure and fair. The committee was also asked to recommend reforms in the agency’s structure and functioning, improve examination processes and strengthen data security safeguards.

 

"A Parliamentary committee has asked the National Testing Agency (NTA) to clarify what constitutes a ‘Paper Leak’ under its definition. Commi…"