The National Testing Agency (NTA), established in 2018, has faced significant scrutiny this year due to repeated exam cancellations, paper leaks, and irregularities, including the NEET UG 2024 paper leak that reached the Supreme Court.
Following the cancellation of UGC NET, CSIR UGC NET, NCET, and the delayed CUET UG 2024 results, the NTA's operational model was questioned in the Rajya Sabha.
Since its inception, Vivek K Tankha of the INC inquired about the NTA's revenue from application forms and services. Dr Sukanta Majumdar, Minister of State in the Ministry of Education, responded that the NTA is self-supporting through examination fees, generating an estimated Rs 1065.38 crore in fee income for 2023-24 with a total expenditure of Rs 1020.35 crore.
Since its inception, the NTA has conducted over 240 exams for more than 5.4 crore candidates. The launch of CUET UG and PG exams in 2022 significantly increased its fee income from Rs 490.35 crore in 2021-22 to Rs 1065.38 crore in 2023-24. The NTA implements various operational and security measures to ensure the fair conduct of exams, including biometric capture, frisking, CCTV surveillance, and AI analytics, as mentioned in a report by The Indian Express.
The NTA, led by a Director General appointed by the Central Government, employs 22 deputed employees, 39 contractual employees, and 132 outsourced staff.