New Delhi, Sep 22 (IANS) The Centre has told the Supreme Court that the National Testing Agency (NTA) is being strengthened through a functional-vertical structure, the appointment of senior government officers and the creation of specialised professional positions as part of ongoing reforms. In an additional affidavit filed before the apex court in the batch of petitions concerning reforms in the functioning of the NTA, the Union Ministry of Education said a total of 14 officers, including a Joint Secretary, four Directors, a Joint Director, two Deputy Secretaries, two Under Secretaries, two Section Officers and two Assistant Section Officers, were posted to the examination body in August 2026.The affidavit was filed in compliance with the Supreme Court order directing the Ministry of Education to place on record details of the process being followed for implementation of the recommendations of the High-Level Committee of Experts (HLCE) headed by former ISRO Chairman K. Radhakrishnan.The Centre said the NTA is being restructured into a "functional-vertical structure" to enable domain-specific capability building, replacing the earlier system in which personnel were deployed into exam-wise verticals."The functional-vertical structure enables domain-specific capability-building within each core area of competence, whereas in the earlier structure, the human resources of NTA were deployed into specific exam-wise verticals," the affidavit stated.

It said the NTA's apex leadership is now headed by an officer of the rank of Secretary to the Government of India serving as its Director General, while proposals to upgrade the post of DG from Joint Secretary level to Additional Secretary level and create five senior Joint Secretary-level positions are under active consideration.The Centre further said the NTA's senior leadership now draws officers from multiple services, including the Indian Administrative Service, Indian Police Service, Indian Revenue Service and Indian Statistical Service, among others.The affidavit said domain specialists are also being recruited from the open market in areas including technology, human resources, assessment research and development, test centres, candidate experience, information security, test security and vigilance."The full new institutional establishment of the National Testing Agency, covering the entirety of the Government cadre, and the professional cadre required for the strengthened mandate, is presently under active consideration and will be operationalised after due consideration of the final recommendations received from the HPTF," it said.The Centre informed the Supreme Court that the High-Powered Task Force (HPTF), constituted on July 27 under the chairmanship of former UIDAI Chairman Nandan Nilekani, has commenced its work and held discussions with stakeholders, including the NTA Director General and the Department of Higher Education.The HPTF has also consulted K. Radhakrishnan, chairman of the High-Powered Steering Committee overseeing implementation of the HLCE recommendations, the affidavit said.

It added that the Radhakrishnan-led HLCE had made 101 recommendations covering reforms in national common entrance testing, long-term institutional reforms, digital education testing and periodic monitoring by the Ministry of Education.On physical infrastructure, the Centre said dedicated office space measuring 55,524.53 square feet had been allotted to the NTA in the Government of India Press building at Minto Road, New Delhi."The fifth floor and parts of fourth and sixth floor of the said building have been allotted to the National Testing Agency comprising of 55,524.53 square feet of office space," it said.According to the affidavit, confidential operations of the NTA had been shifted to the newly allotted government premises over the previous month.The Centre said the new facility would ensure that the NTA's functional verticals and apex leadership operate from a secured government premises, while its confidential operations division could be structured with the level of security recommended by the HLCE.Security arrangements at the confidential area have also been strengthened, with 39 personnel of the Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) deployed at the Minto Road facility for security, access control and screening.

The affidavit said security measures include frisking, X-ray baggage screening machines and Door Frame Metal Detectors (DFMDs) at entry and exit points.The Centre also told the apex court that Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) recommended by the HLCE had been defined for key stages of the examination cycle, including question-paper setting, translation, printing, packing, tracking, movement, examination-day protocols, opening of trunks, examination-centre security and return movement and computation of results."The complete, granular Standard Operating Procedures are, for reasons of operational security, not being placed on the public record," the affidavit said.It added that measures already placed before the top court included QR-code tracking and Aadhaar authentication of question papers, security protocols for transportation and storage, examination-centre security, Aadhaar-based biometric and face authentication, multi-layer frisking, mobile jammers, CCTV monitoring, use of AI tools and a five-tier oversight structure.

The affidavit said the HPTF is currently considering, among other issues, the possible migration of NEET-UG from the pen-and-paper mode to computer-based testing (CBT)."The possible migration of NEET (UG) from the pen-and-paper mode to Computer-Based Testing, including the design of the transition, the sequencing, the infrastructure prerequisites, and the equity implications for rural, women and low-connectivity-district candidates" is under consideration, it said.The Centre said a national examination-grade CBT infrastructure strategy was also being formulated to address the geographic gap in test-centre availability and standardise examination-grade specifications.The transition to CBT would require structured consultation and concurrence of the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare and the National Medical Commission, it added.The Union government told the Supreme Court that it remained committed to strengthening the integrity and credibility of examinations conducted by the NTA."The Union of India respectfully places on record its firm and continuing commitment to the integrity, credibility and continued strengthening of the national examinations conducted by the National Testing Agency," the affidavit stated.

The development comes days after the Supreme Court said it may visit the NTA office to assess on the ground whether its examination-conducting system was functioning effectively, including its manpower and other arrangements.A Bench of Justices P.S. Narasimha and Alok Aradhe had stressed that recommendations for institutional reforms should be implemented and not remain confined to reports.The apex court had also directed the Joint Secretary coordinating with the HPTF to file an affidavit detailing the progress made in implementing the proposed reforms and ordered that the affidavit be uploaded on the NTA's official website for students and other stakeholders.The matter is listed for further hearing on October 9.

/IANS