NTA earned ₹448 crores profit in six years, but did little to upgrade the testing facilities: Jairam Ramesh

National Testing Agency profits ₹448 crores, fails to upgrade facilities or monitor vendors, raising concerns about its integrity.

The National Testing Agency earned a profit of ₹448 crores in the last six years, but did not use the money to upgrade the agency’s testing facilities or to bolster regulatory and monitoring capabilities for its vendors, Congress general secretary (communications) Jairam Ramesh said on August 4. 

In a post on X, he flagged a recent reply by the Union Ministry of Education to the Rajya Sabha, where it was revealed that the NTA collected an estimated ₹3,512.98 crore, while it spent ₹3,064.77 crore on the conduct of examinations — it netted a profit of ₹448 crores in the last six years. 

“This corpus, however, has not been used to build the agency’s capabilities to conduct tests itself, or to strengthen regulatory and monitoring capabilities for its vendors. The future of millions of India’s youths has ultimately become a mere revenue-raising exercise for the non-biological PM’s Government.” 

The Union Ministry of Education established the National Testing Agency (NTA) in 2017, as an autonomous organisation under the Societies Registration Act (1860). It conducts several national-level examinations, including NEET. The organisation is under the scanner after being hit by several cases of paper leak. 

Congress and the other Opposition parties have run a consistent campaign against the NTA and its governing body. “It is a body of the Education Ministry whose only purpose is to function via outsourcing to private vendors. Not only do these vendors very often have dubious credentials, but the NTA itself is headed by a person who presided over the Madhya Pradesh Public Service Commission, which has seen mega scams,” Mr. Ramesh posted.