Summary
The Department-related Parliamentary Standing Committee on Education, Women, Children, Youth and Sports, chaired by Mukul Wasnik, presented its 382nd report, Reforms and Strengthening of the National Testing Agency, to the Rajya Sabha Chairman on 9 October 2026.
It calls a large, varied and constantly refreshed question bank the most viable long-term defence against leaks. It recommends that final papers be set very close to the exam and vetted by experts who are kept in quarantine until the test ends.
It backs a phased move to computer-based testing, including for NEET-UG, possibly across independent shifts, provided any score normalisation is independently audited and explained in advance. It asks for 1,000 secure government-run CBT centres on a phased timeline, at least one centre in every district, government ownership of all centres, a national blacklist of exam vendors and a permanent specialised cadre for an agency with over 40% of key posts vacant.
It also warns against invasive searches and hostile exam halls.
WHY IT MATTERS FOR UPSC & STATE PCS
A parliamentary standing committee presented a report on 9 October 2026 recommending a structural overhaul of the National Testing Agency. This follows the cancellation of NEET-UG 2026 over a paper leak and months of protests.
Standard News
Designing Out the Leak, Building In the State
From Catching Leakers to Removing What Can Be Leaked
India's response to exam leaks has usually come after the leak. The Public Examinations (Prevention of Unfair Means) Act, 2024 punishes individuals with 3 to 5 years in prison and service providers with fines of up to Rs 1 crore.
That is deterrence aimed at people. The 382nd report of the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Education, chaired by Mukul Wasnik, takes a different route. It aims at the object being leaked. Its central claim is that the most viable long-term defence is a large, diverse and continuously updated question bank.
A computer-based test needs no printing or transport, so there is no reason to fix a paper weeks in advance. The final paper can be drawn from the bank very close to the exam, vetted digitally by experts who are quarantined until the test ends.
The committee also warns that repeatedly relying on standard question sets is itself a serious integrity risk. If the paper does not exist in final form until hours before the test, there is little to steal.
The Second Shift: From Outsourcing to State Capacity
The report's other move is institutional. It treats the sub-contracted private centre as the weak link and recommends that all centres be owned and run by the Union or State governments. It asks for 1,000 secure government CBT centres on a phased timeline and at least one centre in every district.
It proposes a national registry of blacklisted vendors, because a vendor penalised by one testing body often wins contracts from another when records are kept in isolation. It also points to the agency's own hollowness. 41% of key permanent posts are vacant and the Director General's post was held as an additional charge from June 2024 to April 2026.
The committee wants faster recruitment and a permanent specialised cadre.
Two Tensions the Report Cannot Wish Away
Security versus equity. NEET-UG draws over 24 lakh candidates. Moving it to CBT likely means several shifts and several shifts mean normalisation. The committee insists any method be independently audited, mathematically sound and explained to students in advance.
That condition exists because a candidate in a rural district who meets a computer screen for the first time on exam day, in a harder shift, has a real fairness complaint. Advice versus authority. Standing committee reports are advisory.
The government replies through an Action Taken Report, usually within six months and may decline. The 2024 K. Radhakrishnan Committee made 101 recommendations, including more government CBT centres. NEET-UG 2026 was still cancelled over a leak.
Why This Matters for the Exam
The rule as written gives the NTA autonomy as a registered society. The rule as practised left it short-staffed and dependent on vendors. A sharp GS2 answer should frame the report as moving from deterrence to design and from outsourcing to capacity and then test it against the committee system's central limitation: it can recommend, but it cannot compel.
Quick Facts
Key numbers & takeaways — revise these first
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Report: 382nd report of the Department-related Parliamentary Standing Committee on Education, Women, Children, Youth and Sports
Connect the dots for your UPSC preparation.
Standard news covers the event. Log in to read our comprehensive analysis and uncover the hidden constitutional, structural, and ethical dimensions of this topic:
Why a rolling question bank with late paper-setting and quarantined vetters changes the economics of a leak and what the CAT model shows about running it at scale
The State-capacity agenda in detail: 1,000 government centres, a vendor blacklist and a permanent cadre for an agency with 41% of key posts vacant
The equity trap in multi-shift CBT normalisation for 24 lakh NEET-UG candidates and the audit conditions the committee attached
What a standing committee can and cannot compel and why the Radhakrishnan Committee's 101 recommendations did not prevent the 2026 cancellation
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