A parliamentary committee examining the NEET-UG 2024 controversy and concerns surrounding the Central Board of Secondary Education's (CBSE) on-screen marking (OSM) system has sought detailed written responses from both the National Testing Agency (NTA) and the CBSE, according to sources.
The Parliamentary Committee on Education, Women, Children, Youth and Sports, headed by Digvijaya Singh, has asked the NTA to clarify what constitutes a "paper leak" and whether any such incidents have occurred in examinations conducted by the agency since its inception in 2018.
The questionnaire follows the appearance of NTA officials before the panel last week, during which they reportedly maintained that there had been no paper leak from the agency's system in the NEET-UG 2024 examination. According to sources, NTA officials argued that certain questions from a guess paper had been circulating rather than the actual examination paper being leaked.
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The committee has also sought details on whether the NTA conducted any internal inquiry into allegations of irregularities in NEET-UG 2024, separate from investigations carried out by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI).
In addition, the panel has requested information on the NTA's staffing levels over the past three years, recruitments made since 2022, annual reports submitted to the Higher Education Department, and action taken on the 101 recommendations made by the expert committee headed by former ISRO chairman K Radhakrishnan.
The committee has simultaneously raised a series of questions for the CBSE regarding its on-screen marking system. It has sought explanations for changes made in successive Requests for Proposals (RFPs) issued for the OSM contract, including modifications to eligibility criteria, technical specifications and vendor requirements.
Among other issues, the panel has asked whether due diligence was carried out before awarding the contract and sought clarification on reported changes relating to bidder qualifications, data centre requirements, scanning standards and project experience criteria.
The committee has directed the CBSE to submit its written responses by June 8, while the NTA has been asked to furnish its replies by June 10.
The scrutiny comes amid continuing concerns over examination transparency and assessment processes, with the panel seeking to assess both the conduct of national entrance examinations and the implementation of digital evaluation systems.
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