Key Details
In its 382nd Report on Reforms and Strengthening of the NTA, the parliamentary committee links examination security to the agency’s capacity to run and oversee tests taken by about 1.2 crore candidates annually.
NEET-UG format: Move to computer-based testing (CBT) in phases. The panel endorses an earlier expert committee’s call for 1,000 secure government test centres and recommends at least one centre in every district.
Access before transition: Offer mock tests, consult students and medical-education stakeholders, and consider locally printed encrypted papers where CBT infrastructure is inadequate. Any multi-session NEET must have a publicly explained, independently audited score-normalisation method.
NTA workforce: Only 23 of 39 sanctioned posts are filled. The panel calls for permanent specialists in examination security, assessment design, digital systems, data analysis and logistics.
Security and oversight: Build a large question bank, set final papers closer to examination dates, publish a national registry of blacklisted examination vendors, and create an independent mechanism to audit security and investigate grievances.
Candidate fairness: Publish annual equity audits, improve arrangements for candidates with disabilities, and set clearer grievance timelines and a duty of care when examinations are cancelled.
Computer Testing Is Conditional on Public Capacity
NEET-UG remains a pen-and-paper examination while several other major NTA entrance tests already use CBT. The committee sees a phased move as a way to reduce the risks associated with printing and transporting question papers. It does not recommend an immediate switch: government-run facilities must be sufficiently widespread for candidates in smaller cities and rural areas to reach them without undue cost.
Digital delivery also introduces risks of its own. The panel calls for in-house cybersecurity expertise and, if candidates take different versions of NEET, a score-normalisation method that is settled and explained before the transition.
The NTA Needs Expertise It Can Retain
The report treats the 41% vacancy rate as more than a staffing shortfall. Its 39 sanctioned permanent posts are filled through deputation, which generally gives officers limited tenures. The committee wants the NTA to build its own lasting expertise rather than depend so heavily on rotating officers and private contractors for a high-stakes national function.
It also recommends using the NTA’s accumulated ₹590 crore revenue surplus for FY 2018–19 to FY 2024–25 to help upgrade government-owned CBT centres and provide mock examinations. That is a proposed use of the surplus, not an approved spending decision.
Fairness Extends Beyond Preventing Paper Leaks
The committee asks the NTA to examine whether entrance papers test school-curriculum concepts rather than coaching-specific techniques. It also proposes an annual equity audit comparing not just registrations but success rates by State, gender, school-board type, language and social category. Candidate support—including disability access, counselling and grievance handling—forms another part of its account of examination integrity.
The panel additionally asks that the NTA refocus on higher-education admission tests, while considering a two-stage NEET format and possible age or attempt limits. These remain recommendations for examination and consultation, not changes to current eligibility rules.
Policy Relevance
The proposals make institutional capacity the connecting issue. A secure question bank, public test centres and credible score normalisation require specialist staff and sustained coordination with State governments; changing the exam format alone would not deliver them.
The proposed equity audit could reveal whether candidates who can register for national tests have comparable chances of success. Publishing that evidence, alongside information on irregularities and grievance outcomes, would also give students and policymakers a clearer basis for judging the reforms.
Follow the Committee’s Recommendations Here: 382nd Report of the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Education, Women, Children, Youth and Sports