NEET row: High-level committee formed under ex-ISRO chief for smooth conduct of exams

New Delhi, June 22: The Centre on Saturday said that it has formed a high-level committee under the former ISRO Chief which will make the necessary recommendations regarding the smooth and fair conduct of exams through the National Testing Agency (NTA) for NEET and other examinations.

The committee will work under the Chairmanship of K. Radhakrishnan, former Chairman, of ISRO and Chairman of BoG, IIT Kanpur.

“The committee will submit the report in two months and will make necessary recommendations on reform in the mechanism of the examination process, improvement in data security protocols and structure and functioning of NTA,” an official of the Ministry of Education said.

The ministry said that the other members include Dr. Randeep Guleria, Former Director, AIIMS Delhi. Prof. B J Rao, Vice Chancellor, Central University of Hyderabad. Prof. Ramamurthy K, Professor Emeritus, Department of Civil Engineering, IIT Madras. Pankaj Bansal, Co-Founder, People Strong and Board Member- Karmayogi Bharat. Prof. Aditya Mittal, Dean Student Affairs, IIT Delhi. Govind Jaiswal, Joint Secretary, Ministry of Education.

The Terms of Reference of the committee include reform in the mechanism of the examination process, to analyse the end-to-end examination process and suggest measures to improve the efficiency of the system and to forestall any possible breach. To conduct a thorough review of the Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs)/Protocols of the NTA, and suggest measures to strengthen these procedures/protocols along with monitoring mechanisms to ensure compliance at every level.

It will also evaluate the existing data security processes and protocols of NTA and recommend measures for its improvement. It will also examine existing security protocols related to paper-setting and other processes for different examinations and make recommendations to enhance the robustness of the system.

For Structure and Functioning of the National Testing Agency, committee will make recommendations on the organisational structure and functioning of the National Testing Agency (NTA) for implementation of recommendations and clearly defining the roles and responsibilities of functionaries at every level.

It will also assess the current Grievance Redressal Mechanism of the NTA, identify areas of improvement and make recommendations for enhancing its efficiency.

The Committee can co-opt any Subject Matter Expert to assist them.