New Delhi: The National Testing Agency (NTA) has removed more than 50 employees a day after announcing fresh UGC-NET examinations for English, Sociology and Commerce following multiple errors in the question papers.
The action came after a meeting between Union Education Minister Pralhad Joshi, the Secretary of Higher Education and the NTA Director General on Monday. Joshi directed the testing agency to conduct a comprehensive audit of all examination processes and submit a report on corrective measures within a month.
The minister was also informed that NTA has advertised 10 new professional leadership positions, including Chief Technology Officer, Chief Financial Officer, Chief Information Security Officer and General Manager for examination security, R&D and psychometrics.
A ministry official said domain experts from the private sector would be brought in for areas including cybersecurity, psychometrics and question-paper design.
NTA ordered to tighten exam security
Joshi directed the NTA to ensure strict compliance with established examination protocols. The agency has also been asked to implement changes to its confidential operations framework, including secluded rooms, air-gapped systems and device-deposit protocols on a war footing.
The NTA had conducted the UGC-NET June 2026 examination across 87 subjects between June 22 and 30. Candidates subsequently complained of several errors in the Sociology paper, including spelling, grammar and translation mistakes.
Names of prominent scholars were reportedly misspelled, including “Ritzer” as “Putzer” and “Nussbaum” as “Nusbaut”. Candidates also alleged that several questions in the English paper had been repeated from previous years.
The fresh English and Commerce examinations will be held on September 9, while the Sociology examination will take place on September 10.
