From Former ISRO Chief To Ex-AIIMS Director: Know Who Are Part Of Committee Formed To Reform NTA Functioning

The central government on Saturday formed a high-level committee of experts, led by former ISRO chief K. Radhakrishnan, to ensure transparent, smooth, and fair conduct of examinations through the National Testing Agency (NTA).

The committee has been tasked with making recommendations on reforming the examination mechanism, improving data security protocols, and refining the structure and operations of the NTA. The panel is expected to submit its report within two months.

Informing about the same, Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan said that setting up a high-level committee of experts is the first step in a series of measures to improve the efficiency of the examination process, eliminate all possible malpractices and reform the NTA.

“Student interests and their bright future will always be our government’s top priority,” the Union minister added.

Here are the names of the seven members of the high-level committee:

1. Dr. K. Radhakrishnan, former chairman at ISRO and Chairman BoG at IIT Kanpur (Chairman)
2. Dr. Randeep Guleria, former director at AIIMS Delhi (Member)
3. Prof. B J Rao, Vice-Chancellor, Central University of Hyderabad (Member)
4. Prof. Ramamurthy K, Professor Emeritus, Department of Civil Engineering, IIT Madras (Member)
5. Shri Pankaj Bansal, Co-Founder, PeopleStrong and Board Member- Karmayogi Bharat (Member)
6. Prof. Aditya Mittal, Dean Student Affairs at IIT Delhi (Member)
7. Shri Govind Jaiswal, Joint Secretary, Ministry of Education, Govt. of India (Member Secretary)

The committee formation comes amid controversy over alleged irregularities in NEET-UG and UGC-NET, bringing the National Testing Agency (NTA), which administers these exams on behalf of the University Grants Commission (UGC), into the spotlight.

On Friday, the central government introduced the Public Examinations (Prevention of Unfair Means) Act, 2024, a stringent law aimed at curbing paper leaks and cheating in public examinations and common entrance tests held across the country.

This Act targets the prevention of paper leaks and malpractices in recruitment examinations like UPSC and SSC, as well as in entrance tests such as NEET, JEE, and CUET.