A Parliamentary Standing Committee examining the role of the National Testing Agency (NTA) in the wake of NEET UG paper leak and cancellation on Friday (October 9, 2026) called for a legislative mechanism to ensure the agency’s accountability to both Houses of Parliament.
“Organised networks that profit from examination fraud are adaptive and resourceful, and will always seek the weakest link in the chain. Among major reforms the panel suggested are conduct of examinations in the computer based test model instead of pen and paper and also involvement of government owned and operated centres to hold entrance tests and reduction in reliance on private centres. The Committee, while recognising NTA’s past efforts at improvement, said the cancellation of NEET (UG) 2026 implies that further improvement is necessary. The NTA on May 12 cancelled the NEET (UG) 2026 exam conducted on May 3 amid allegations of paper leak.
The NTA therefore needs adequate staff, robust security protocols, clear accountability mechanisms, and digitalisation of operations and examinations to ensure that it stays ahead of any challenges,” said the panel.
“The Committee, therefore, is of the view that NTA should invest in building a large, diverse, and continuously updated question bank which can be drawn on to set papers without the advance knowledge of the question-setters,” said the panel. Noting that trust in the examinations conducted by the NTA was a matter of social justice and national integrity, the Parliamentary Committee on Education, Women, Children, Youth and Sports, in its detailed report today said, “The Education Department may introduce appropriate Parliamentary framework that ensures NTA’s accountability to Parliament.
