47 National Testing Agency officials sacked amid student protests

The Union government on Friday sacked 47 officials of the National Testing Agency amid nationwide youth protests against the alleged irregularities in the conduct of competitive exams, The Hindu reported.

The agency did not disclose the ranks of the officials whose services were terminated.

The National Testing Agency is an autonomous body that reports to the Ministry of Education. It conducts several competitive exams such as the undergraduate National Eligibility cum Entrance Test for medical college admissions and the Common University Entrance Test.

The authorities will initiate “legal and criminal action” against the officials to send a “strong message”, The Indian Express quoted unidentified persons aware of the matter as saying on Friday.

More “reformative actions” will be taken, The Hindu quoted officials as saying.

In response, a spokesperson of the Cockroach Janta Party said that “it’s from top”, adding that Pradhan must resign.

This came as the Union Cabinet on Friday cleared a proposal to amend the 2024 Public Examinations Prevention of Unfair Means Act. The draft legislation proposes to add tougher penalties and time-bound trial mechanisms to the anti-paper leak law.

Youth protesters in Delhi led by the Cockroach Janta Party political campaign and several cities have been demanding the resignation of Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan in the matter.

On Wednesday, the government told Parliament that 15 of the 39 permanent posts in the National Testing Agency were vacant.

In 2026, the agency has so far conducted 12 exams for which 65 lakh candidates had registered.

In the financial year 2023-’24, the National Testing Agency had an income of Rs 1,116 crore and an expenditure of Rs 1,040 crore, the education ministry told the Rajya Sabha.

Edited by Nachiket Deuskar.

Follow updates of the youth protest here.