Centre appoints three officers to National Testing Agency amid NEET paper leak concerns

The Centre has appointed two directors and a joint director to the National Testing Agency (NTA), which has been under scrutiny over the NEET paper leak and other concerns surrounding the conduct of major entrance examinations.

Ravi Kumar Singh, an Indian Police Service (IPS) officer, and Prasanna Venkatesh V, an Indian Administrative Service (IAS) officer, have been appointed as directors in the NTA, according to separate orders issued by the personnel ministry on August 27.

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Amit Samdariya, a 2016-batch Indian Revenue Service (Customs and Indirect Taxes) officer, has been appointed as joint director at the testing agency, according to another order issued by the ministry.

The three officers have been asked to assume their new positions within three weeks of the respective orders. The orders said that failure to do so would mean that "the process of debarment from the Central Staffing Scheme shall be initiated."

The appointments come as the government moves to overhaul the NTA's examination system following a series of controversies, including the alleged NEET paper leak.

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The government recently announced a comprehensive revamp of the agency's examination process. The proposed changes include a four-tier paper-checking system, the removal of 600 experts and the onboarding of domain specialists, among other measures.

The NTA conducts several major entrance examinations, including the National Eligibility cum Entrance Test (NEET), which is used for admission to undergraduate medical courses across the country.