NTA earned Rs 448 crore surplus in 6 years; Parliamentary panel says need to fix exam system

4 min readNew DelhiUpdated: Jun 17, 2026 01:13 PM IST

The National Testing Agency had declared the result of NEET-UG on June 4 and re-revised scorecard on July 26. (Express image/ representative)

The National Testing Agency (NTA) generated a surplus of nearly Rs 448 crore over the past six years, according to a parliamentary committee, which has recommended that the funds be used to strengthen the agency’s examination infrastructure and oversight of vendors.

In its latest action taken report, the Parliamentary standing committee on education, women, children, youth and sports noted that the NTA collected an estimated Rs 3,512.98 crore while spending Rs 3,064.77 crore on conducting examinations during the period, resulting in a surplus of Rs 448 crore.

The committee reiterated its earlier recommendation that the accumulated corpus should be utilised to build the agency’s in-house capabilities for conducting examinations or to strengthen regulatory and monitoring mechanisms overseeing vendors involved in the examination process.

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The observations are part of the committee’s 381st Action Taken Report on the recommendations made earlier. The panel, headed by Rajya Sabha MP Digvijaya Singh, expressed concern that examination irregularities continue despite measures initiated by the government following the previous year’s controversies surrounding national entrance tests.

Endorsing Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan’s statement that “a lot of improvement is needed in the NTA”, the committee urged the agency to expedite implementation of the recommendations made by the high-level committee headed by former ISRO chairman K Radhakrishnan.

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“The Committee notes the steps taken by the ministry, including the constitution of a high-powered steering committee headed by K Radhakrishnan to monitor the implementation of the recommendations of the high-level committee of experts (HLCE). However, despite these measures, the paper irregularities are still happening, leading to cancellation of examinations, thereby causing a lot of anxiety among students,” the report said.

The committee recommended that the Department of Higher Education publish a time-bound roadmap for implementing the recommendations of the High-Level Committee of Experts at the earliest. It also suggested wider consultations with stakeholders to develop a protocol for the “foolproof” conduct of nationwide competitive examinations.

The panel further pointed out that companies involved in paper setting, examination administration, and evaluation that have been blacklisted by one organisation or state government are sometimes able to secure contracts elsewhere. To address this, it recommended creating a nationwide list of blacklisted firms.

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In its response, the Department of Higher Education said that the NTA’s core functions, including paper setting and evaluation, are not outsourced. It added that the agency maintains records of penalised vendors and does not engage firms blacklisted by the NTA. The procurement process also requires bidders to disclose whether they have been blacklisted by any government agency.

Responding to the committee’s observations on finances, the department said the NTA is a self-sustaining organisation that does not receive government funding. It noted that the agency requires substantial funds at the start of every year for booking examination centres, paying experts, software services, and security arrangements.

According to the department, around Rs 74.5 crore remains on average each year after expenses, and these funds are generally used for preparatory activities for the following year’s examinations. However, it said any surplus remaining after budgeting for future activities can be utilised appropriately.