NEW DELHI: The National Testing Agency (NTA) has initiated a major recruitment drive as part of administrative reforms introduced after the NEET paper leak and irregularities reported in other examinations. The agency has dismissed 47 officials and started the process of appointing senior professionals and Young Professionals to strengthen transparency, accountability and institutional capacity.Operating under the Ministry of Education, the NTA has issued advertisements to recruit four General Managers for key functional areas. Alongside this, it has opened recruitment for 16 Young Professionals through the UPSC’s Pratibha Setu portal for the first time. The exercise marks the first major institutional reform undertaken following recommendations made by the high-level expert committee chaired by Professor K. Radhakrishnan.Four General Managers to oversee critical functionsThe General Manager for Assessment Research and Development and Psychometrics will supervise question bank development, examination normalisation, equating and calibration processes, Computer Adaptive Testing (CAT) and AI-based evaluation systems.The General Manager for Test Center Network Operations will manage examination centres across more than 500 cities in India and selected international locations. Responsibilities include quality standards, capacity planning, facilities for differently-abled candidates, examination-day arrangements and coordination with state and district administrations.The General Manager for Information Security will function as the NTA’s Chief Information Security Officer. The role includes ensuring compliance with cybersecurity protocols, the Digital Personal Data Protection Act, 2023, the IT Act, 2000, CERT-In guidelines and oversight of a 24×7 Security Operations Center.Young Professionals to be appointed through UPSC portalThe NTA will recruit 16 Young Professionals through the UPSC Pratibha Setu portal, including 12 positions in academic research, two in legal research and two in finance and accounts. Appointments will initially be for 24 months and may be extended to 36 months based on performance.More reforms planned under expert committee recommendationsThe agency stated that further recruitment will follow in line with the 10 functional verticals recommended by the expert committee. It also plans to establish a new panel of subject matter experts and translators in the coming weeks.The UPSC Pratibha Setu, previously known as the Public Disclosure Scheme, publishes details of candidates who cleared written examinations but were not recommended after interviews. Introduced on August 20, 2018, the scheme covers candidates from examinations including Civil Services, Indian Forest Service, Central Armed Police Forces, Engineering Services, Combined Geo-Scientist, CDS, Indian Economic Service, Indian Statistical Service and Combined Medical Services.
