The Parliamentary Standing Committee on Education, Women, Children, Youth and Sports has recommended that the National Testing Agency (NTA) be granted statutory status through an Act of Parliament. This move aims to establish a clear accountability framework for the agency, which currently operates as a registered society under the Societies Registration Act, 1860 since its inception in 2017.
NTA's Efforts to Expedite NEET-UG Results
During a meeting on Wednesday, officials from the Ministry of Education and the NTA informed the committee that steps are being taken to speed up the declaration of NEET-UG results. The goal is to prevent delays in the counselling and admission processes for medical colleges. The NTA presented a plan to institutionalise parallelised result processing, which involves running the answer key challenge process concurrently with OMR scanning.
Currently, result declaration takes approximately 45 days. The answer key challenge process typically begins only after OMR scanning is completed, adding another four to five days. The NTA stated, "We are institutionalising parallelised result processing by running the answer key challenge process concurrently with OMR scanning as a repeatable mechanism to declare results faster and protect the admission and counselling schedule. Any delay in result declaration would consequently delay medical college admissions and counselling."
Answer Key Challenge Mechanism
The answer key challenge mechanism allows candidates to contest the NTA's provisional answer key. Candidates who believe an official answer is incorrect can submit objections online, supported by standard textbook references. If a panel of experts upholds the challenge, the answer key is revised and the challenge fee is refunded.
Background and Investigation
The NEET-UG re-examination was held on June 21 after the original May 3 test was cancelled due to an alleged paper leak. The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) is continuing its probe into the matter. During the meeting, the NTA also briefed the committee on the logistical support received from the Department of Posts and the Indian Air Force (IAF) in conducting the re-test.
Committee Deliberations
Former ISRO chairman K Radhakrishnan, who heads the high-powered committee overseeing reforms in the NTA, also briefed the panel. Committee chairman Mukul Wasnik said, "The meeting was very good and informative. The inputs we received during the course of our deliberations will help the committee reach a conclusion."
