NTA removes 50 staff members as UGC-NET re-tests trigger exam overhaul

The NTA has ordered re-tests for three UGC-NET papers after multiple errors were found. The move has intensified scrutiny of the agency even as the government pushes a wider exam reform plan.The NTA announced re-tests for the English, Commerce and Sociology papers, triggering fresh protests by opposition parties and student groups. (Photo: India Today)The National Testing Agency (NTA) on Monday moved to contain the fallout from its decision to hold re-tests for three UGC-NET papers that were found to have several errors, announcing more action against staff and a wider reform drive. The agency has now removed 50 staff members in total and is bringing in professionals for key leadership roles as it faces criticism over repeated lapses in major examinations.The move came a day after the NTA announced re-tests for the English, Commerce and Sociology papers, triggering fresh protests by opposition parties and student groups. Critics said the agency's failures were affecting students' academic and career plans, while the NTA said it had acted in the interest of candidates and was reviewing its internal processes to make future examinations fair and error-free.Education Minister Pralhad Joshi, who took charge after Dharmendra Pradhan resigned following widespread protests over a leak in the NEET-UG exam, held a meeting with the Higher Education secretary, the NTA director general and other senior officials.The ministry said he was briefed on the steps taken after the recent issues and on efforts to reform the examination system. Although the ministry had earlier said in an X post that Joshi was informed that "more than 50 staff have been removed from NTA", an official later clarified that the figure included 47 removals made earlier. In July, the NTA had terminated 47 officials in the NEET paper leak controversy. On Monday, the ministry said 10 new professional leadership positions, including chief technology officer, chief finance officer, CISO, GM (test security) and GM (R and D and psychometrics), had been advertised and were being filled. It said domain specialists from the private sector were also being brought in for cybersecurity, psychometrics, question paper design and other specialised areas.The ministry said Joshi directed strict compliance with established examination protocols and called for a complete overhaul of the confidential operations architecture, secluded rooms, air-gapped systems and device deposit protocols on a war footing. The NTA has also been asked to carry out a thorough audit of all examination processes and submit a report on the corrective steps taken. Later, Joshi said on X that the discussion focused on strengthening the education system through wider reforms. "We also deliberated on critical issues relating to school and higher education, with a focus on addressing key challenges and ensuring a more robust, responsive and future-ready education system," he said.Opposition leaders and student bodies stepped up their attacks on the agency. Congress leader Rahul Gandhi said on X, "this is no longer an education system. It is an extraction machine". He added that Pradhan's resignation was the first step, but not the last, and said, "NTA's leadership must be held accountable too."Several student organisations, including the NSUI, SFI, AISA and KYS, held protests in Delhi and announced nationwide demonstrations against the decision to re-conduct the UGC-NET papers. The ABVP also expressed concern, with its national general secretary Virendra Singh Solanki saying students' future could not be compromised and that the NTA must be held accountable.Other Congress leaders accused the government of making students pay for the NTA's inefficiency, while the Aam Aadmi Party said the issue was not a "minor error" but a failure that was costing students their time, money, mental peace and opportunities.According to the announcement, the re-test for the English and Commerce papers will be held on September 9, while the Sociology exam will be conducted on September 10. The NTA conducted UGC-NET June 2026 from June 22 to 30 across 87 subjects for the award of junior research fellowship, eligibility for assistant professors and admission to PhD programmes.NTA sources said the agency had acted proactively after receiving complaints and chose to order re-tests in candidates' overall interest."The task of an examination-conducting agency is not only to conduct error-free examinations, but also to act promptly and honestly whenever an anomaly is found," a source said.The source added that the NTA had accepted that something had gone wrong and had taken corrective action "at the cost to itself, rather than papering over the problem".Another source said, "The willingness to identify problems proactively, to admit them, and to act, even where action is difficult, is itself the foundation of a more accountable examination system. An agency that conducts examinations at this scale will occasionally encounter problems; what defines its credibility is that it finds them, owns them, and corrects them in the interest of candidates."The NTA said it had received several complaints about multiple errors in the three papers and had set up a committee to examine the lapses."The committee identified the anomalies in the three subjects and recommended that, in the interest of holding a fair and error-free examination, these three papers should be re-conducted. It was recommended that papers carrying such defects did not meet the standards of fairness and error-free examination," it said.- EndsPublished By: India Today Web Desk Published On: Aug 18, 2026 06:41 IST