The central government has constituted an expert panel, led by former Isro chief K Radhakrishnan, to explore reforms in the National Testing Agency (NTA) amidst ongoing concerns regarding the conduct of NEET examinations. The panel is actively seeking suggestions from students, parents, and other stakeholders to ensure comprehensive reform recommendations.
The public can submit their proposals through a dedicated window available on the MyGov website until July 7. The Union Ministry of Education has urged stakeholders, particularly students and parents, to contribute their views, suggestions, and ideas during this period.
The expert panel's mandate includes making recommendations on the examination process, enhancing data security protocols, and evaluating the structure and functioning of the NTA. This initiative follows several irregularities in the NEET exams, including alleged paper leaks and discrepancies in awarding grace marks. Furthermore, the UGC-NET was canceled due to compromised exam integrity, and two other exams – CSIR-UGC-NET and NEET PG – were also canceled as a preemptive measure.
In response to these issues, the government removed the NTA chief and established this expert panel to guide the overall reform of the agency. The panel comprises distinguished members, including:
- **Randeep Guleria**, former AIIMS Delhi director
- **BJ Rao**, Vice-Chancellor of Central University of Hyderabad
- **K Ramamurthy**, Professor Emeritus in the Department of Civil Engineering at IIT Madras
- **Pankaj Bansal**, co-founder of PeopleStrong and board member of Karmayogi Bharat
- **Aditya Mittal**, Dean of Student Affairs at IIT Delhi
- **Govind Jaiswal**, Joint Secretary at the Ministry of Education
This initiative aims to address the current challenges and improve the integrity and reliability of national testing procedures, ensuring a fair and transparent examination system for all stakeholders.
