NTA Employs 22 Deputation, 39 Contractual And 132 Outsourced Staff: Dr. Sukanta Majumdar

Amid ongoing NEET controversy, Dr. Sukanta Majumdar reveals NTA employs 22 deputation, 39 contractual, and 132 outsourced staff.

NTA conducts around 15 entrance and fellowship exams, involving more than 8 million students.

Source : NTA

Amid the ongoing controversy surrounding the National Eligibility cum Entrance Test (NEET), Minister of State for Education Dr. Sukanta Majumdar revealed that the National Testing Agency currently employs 22 deputation employees, 39 contractual employees, and 132 outsourced staff. In response to a question from DMK MP Kanimozhi Karunanidhi, Dr. Majumdar stated that the NTA is headed by a Director General appointed under the Central Staffing Scheme.

"Director General (DG) of NTA is appointed by the Central Government under the Central Staffing Scheme. In addition, the number of employees working on deputation in NTA are 22 at present. The number of contractual employees is 39, and outsourced staff/employees are 132. One employee is absorbed in NTA from his parent department," Dr. Majumdar said.

Dr. Majumdar highlighted that while the NTA engages specialized agencies for tasks like biometric capture, frisking, CCTV surveillance, AI analytics, and exam delivery, the core task of setting question papers remains in-house to ensure confidentiality and integrity.

"Considering the sensitivity involved in competitive examinations, various operational and security measures are undertaken for their smooth and fair conduct. Such measures involve engagement of specialized/experienced agencies for providing services like capturing of biometric data, frisking, CCTV surveillance, AI analytics with a view to identifying any potential impersonation, exam delivery, etc.," Dr. Majumdar said.

"However, it is pertinent to mention that all core activities involving the setting up of question papers are not outsourced," he added.

Earlier, in Parliament, Kanimozhi asked about the number of permanent, deputation, and contractual employees at the NTA, and the specifics of tasks outsourced to external entities.

Notably, the NTA conducts around 15 entrance and fellowship exams, involving more than 8 million students, making it one of the largest exam-conducting agencies in the world. These exams include NEET, JEE Main, CUET UG, CUET PG, UGC NET, JNUET, ICAR All India Entrance Exam, Hotel Management Joint Entrance Examination, NIFT Entrance Examination, Joint CSIR NET exam, DUET, SWAYAM exam, Common Management Admission Test, GPAT, and IGNOU admission.