Centre removes NTA Director General Subodh Kumar Singh amid NEET, NET row

New Delhi [India], June 23: The Centre on Saturday removed National Testing Agency (NTA) Director General Subodh Kumar Singh from his post and put him on "compulsory wait" in the Department of Personnel and Training.

This comes amidst a growing controversy over alleged irregularities in the conduct of exams.

Pradeep Singh Kharola has been given additional charge of the post of Director General, National Testing Agency (NTA), Ministry of Education.

"Assignment of additional charge of the post of Director General, National Testing Agency, Ministry of Education to Pradeep Singh Kharola, IAS (KN:85) (Retd.), Chairman and Managing Director, India Trade Promotion Organization till appointment of a regular incumbent or until further orders, whichever is earlier," the notice stated.

"Placing the services of Subodh Kumar Singh, IAS (CG:97), Director General, National Testing Agency, Ministry of Education on compulsory wait in the Department of Personnel and Training," it added.

The Ministry of Health and Family Welfare postponed the National Eligibility cum Entrance Test Postgraduate (NEET PG) Examination on Saturday, which was scheduled to be held on Sunday and said that a fresh date will be announced at the earliest.

The NEET-PG exams were scheduled to be held on June 23.

"Taking into consideration, the recent incidents of allegations regarding the integrity of certain competitive examinations, the Ministry of Health has decided to undertake a thorough assessment of the robustness of the processes of the NEET-PG Entrance Examination, conducted by the National Board of Examination for medical students," the ministry statement read.

"It has accordingly been decided, as a precautionary measure, to postpone the NEET-PG Entrance Examination, scheduled to be held on 23rd June 2024. The fresh date of this examination will be notified at the earliest," the ministry added.

"The Ministry of Health sincerely regrets the inconvenience caused to the students. This decision has been taken in the best interests of the students and to maintain the sanctity of the examination process," the health ministry said.

The National Testing Agency (NTA), which conducted the NEET-UG exams, is facing criticism over alleged irregularities in the exams. This resulted in several protests across the country, with protestors and political parties demanding to disband the NTA.

An unprecedented 67 candidates achieved a perfect score of 720 marks out of 720, which added to the concerns.

The Ministry of Education said it has constituted a high-level committee of experts to make recommendations on reforms in the mechanism of the examination process, improvements in data security protocols and the functioning of the NTA.

The 7-member committee, led by ISRO former chairman Dr K. Radhakrishnan, will submit its report to the ministry in the next two months.