15 out of 39 posts at the National Testing Agency are unfilled, the state’s education minister says

File photo of Minister of State for Education Sukanta Majumdar. | Photo credit: The Hindu

Fifteen of the 39 posts created by the National Testing Agency (NTA) remain vacant, Minister of State for Education Sukanta Majumdar said in the Rajya Sabha.

At present, the examination body of the Union Ministry of Education has 24 employees, all of whom have been appointed on deputation from various institutions, Mr. Majumdar said in a written reply to a query by CPI(M) MP V Sivadasan on Wednesday (July 22, 2026).

According to the response, the NTA relies heavily on external hiring, employing 73 contract officers – including a general manager of communications, senior advisers and consultants – along with 124 external staff covering roles such as data analysis, legal support and housekeeping.

Bound for deputation

In order to strengthen operations, 16 posts (director and joint director level) have been created within the central staffing system, but appointments remain tied to deputation arrangements rather than permanent recruitment.

The statement is significant as it comes at a time when students are protesting at Jantar Mantar demanding accountability in competitive exams, especially with the functioning of NTA as it is responsible for conducting NEET(UG) and UGC-NET.

“NTA is responsible for conducting high university entrance, medical, engineering and scholarship examinations. Running such a critical centralized body without a single dedicated, permanent cadre is a massive administrative failure that has a direct impact on students,” Mr Sivadasan said in a public statement.

Since its inception in 2018, the NTA – designed as a self-sustaining autonomous organization – has conducted 270 examinations for over 6.6 million students. In 2026 alone, 65 lakh students have registered for various exams, said the Rajya Sabha reply.

“Despite this huge scale, the agency has faced intense criticism over paper leaks and test cancellations, including the high-profile mismanagement seen in exams like NEET and UGC-NET,” Mr. Sivadasan said.

The CPI(M) lawmaker also said that while public reports indicated the leak of question papers for nearly 100 exams and around 50 re-exams since 2018, the education ministry did not respond to his query regarding the exact number of re-exams conducted.

The government has not explained how the agency’s structural autonomy is exercised in practice, or who bears ultimate administrative responsibility when mistakes occur.

According to data provided in the Rajya Sabha, NTA’s revenue has increased from ₹504.16 crore in 2018–19 to ₹1,116.84 crore in 2023–24.

“While the revenue including collection of examination fees has more than doubled in five years, revenue figures for the subsequent fiscal years (2024-25 and 2025-26) were not disclosed in the reply,” Mr. Sivadasan said.

The Rajya Sabha member argued that the centralization of the examination system — taking away powers from state governments and universities — is in line with a political agenda to centralize education policy at the expense of equity and reliability. Pointing to ongoing nationwide student protests against administrative failures, he reiterated that left-wing student organizations and parties had warned against the “unscientific and commercially driven model” of the NTA since its inception.

Published – 23 Jul 2026 22:37 IST