NTA terminates 47 officials, to initiate legal action, begins rebuild

In a major crackdown in the NEET paper leak controversy, the National Testing Agency(NTA)terminated 47 officials and is set to pursue legal and criminal action against some, officials said on Friday. The move comes a day after Higher Education Secretary Vineet Joshi was shunted out to the Panchayati Raj Ministry. "The NTA is set to undergo an overhaul and more reformative actions will follow. At least 47 officials have been terminated, and legal and criminal action will be initiated against some of them," a senior official said.
The NTA has issued advertisements for a set of professional appointments at the level of General Manager and has separately opened the engagement of sixteen Young Professionals through the Pratibha Setu portal of the Union Public Service Commission. “Further recruitment and empanelment actions across the ten functional verticals recommended by the High-Level Committee of Experts will follow in the coming weeks. The NTA recently informed Parliament that it was functioning with only 24 permanent employees against a sanctioned strength of 39 posts. Since its inception in 2018, the agency has conducted over 270 examinations covering more than 6.6 crore candidate registrations.
The crackdown follows the NEET-UG paper leak, which forced nearly 20 lakh candidates to take the examination again on June 21 after the May 3 test was cancelled. Sources stressed that the 47 personnel had been terminated, not merely transferred or marked for removal. Their names, ranks and alleged roles were not disclosed. Cases indicating criminal wrongdoing will be referred to the appropriate agencies, while departmental and legal proceedings will follow separately.