NTA revamp: Five officers appointed as directors, joint directors
What's the story
The National Testing Agency (NTA) has undergone a major revamp with the appointment of five new officers. The appointments include IRS officer Anshuman Sharma as Joint Secretary and IAS officer Prasanna Venkatesh V, along with IRS officers Sathiya S and Ravi Kumar Singh, as directors. Amit Samdariya, another IRS officer, has been appointed Joint Director.
Leadership expansion
Number of directors, joint directors at NTA increases
With these new appointments, the number of directors at the NTA has gone up to five and joint directors to four since March 2025.
The Appointments Committee of the Cabinet (ACC) has approved Sharma's appointment for a tenure of five years or until further orders, whichever is earlier.
This was done by temporarily upgrading a vacant post of Deputy Secretary/Director to Joint Secretary level in NTA for an initial period of two years or until further orders, whichever is earlier.
Strategic alignment
Revamp in line with Radhakrishnan Committee recommendations
The recent appointments are part of a larger overhaul of the agency's examination system, in line with the October 2024 Radhakrishnan Committee recommendations.
The committee had suggested restructuring the NTA by strengthening its permanent workforce.
To this end, the government has created 16 new posts, eight each at director and joint director levels.
Systematic changes
Education Ministry's major overhaul of NTA's examination team
The Education Ministry on August 18 announced a major revamp of the NTA's examination team. This included removing 600 experts and bringing in new ones as directed by Union Education Minister Pralhad Joshi.
The NTA also introduced a four-tier system for checking question papers to reduce errors and strengthen scrutiny.
Future outlook
Plans for further recruitment and office shift proposed by NTA
The Director General of the NTA had said that 20 to 25 officials would be inducted into the agency over the next two to three weeks.
The further recruitment and induction plan was also reviewed at a recent meeting.
As part of its plans, the NTA proposed shifting its office to new premises on a priority basis with strengthened security arrangements through Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) teams.