Ex ISRO, AIIMS Chiefs On Panel To Recommend Ways To Improve Exam Body

New Delhi:

The high-level committee announced by Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan on Thursday to look into ways to improve the functioning of the National Testing Agency has now been constituted, and consists of some well-known academicians and technocrats.

The agency and the government have been under fire over the alleged irregularities in the NEET exam and the cancellation of the UGC-NET test. Over 30 lakh students appeared for the two important exams. 

Dr K Radhakrishnan, a former ISRO chief and the current chairperson of the board of governors of IIT Kanpur will head the seven-member committee. Some of the others on the panel are Dr Randeep Guleria, the former director of AIIMS in Delhi, BJ Rao, the vice-chancellor of the Central University of Hyderabad, Aditya Mittal, the dean of student affairs at IIT Delhi and Ramamurthy K, a former professor in the civil engineering department of IIT Madras.

Govind Jaiswal, joint secretary of the Ministry of Education, and Pankaj Bansal, co-founder of People Strong and board member of Karmayogi Bharat, make up the remaining two members, the Union government said on Saturday. 

On Thursday, Mr Pradhan had said, “The government is also setting up a high-level committee. It will give recommendations on improving NTA’s structure, its functioning, examination process, transparency and data, and security protocol. We are committed to zero-error exams.” 

When he was asked about the composition of the panel, he had said it would have technocrats, scientists, education administrators and academicians.

The Exam Mess

Nearly 24 lakh students had appeared for the NEET-UG 2024 for undergraduate medical courses, which is conducted by the National Testing Agency, on May 5. The results were announced on June 4, 10 days before schedule, but allegations of question paper leaks and grace marks to over 1,500 students triggered protests. Cases were also filed in courts, including the Supreme Court, which has rapped the NTA. 

On Wednesday, the Education Ministry had cancelled the UGC-NET exam, also conducted by the NTA, just a day after it was held. Over 9 lakh candidates had appeared for the exam, which is held for Assistant Professor posts in universities and colleges and to determine eligibility for junior research fellowships. Mr Pradhan had said the UGC chairman had received information from the cyber crime team in the Home Ministry about questions being on the darknet.

The opposition, strengthened after its much-improved showing in the Lok Sabha polls, has attacked the government. The Congress has held nationwide protests and the INDIA alliance is likely to look to corner the government on the issue when the Parliament session begins on Monday.