NTA Appoints 2 Directors, Joint Director as Centre Overhauls Exam System After NEET Row

The National Testing Agency (NTA) has received a new administrative boost with the Centre appointing two directors and a joint director amid continued scrutiny over NEET and other competitive examinations. The appointments come as the government prepares a major overhaul of the NTA’s examination system to strengthen security, scrutiny and governance.

According to separate orders issued by the Department of Personnel and Training on August 27, IPS officer Ravi Kumar Singh and IAS officer Prasanna Venkatesh V have been appointed as directors in the NTA. IRS officer Amit Samdariya has been appointed as joint director.

The three officers have been directed to assume charge within three weeks of the orders. The orders also state that failure to join within the stipulated period could lead to the initiation of the process of debarment from the Central Staffing Scheme.

WHO IS RAVI KUMAR SINGH?

Ravi Kumar Singh is a 2012-batch Indian Police Service officer from the Arunachal Pradesh-Goa-Mizoram-Union Territories cadre.

A direct recruit through the UPSC Civil Services Examination, Singh previously served as Deputy Commissioner of Police in the Economic Offences Wing of the Delhi Police at Pay Level 13.

He joined the IPS in September 2012 and has around 14 years of service.

WHO IS PRASANNA VENKATESH V?

Prasanna Venkatesh V is a 2012-batch IAS officer of the Andhra Pradesh cadre. He is an agriculture graduate from Tamil Nadu Agricultural University.

During his administrative career, he has served as District Collector and District Magistrate of Eluru, Municipal Commissioner of Vijayawada and Joint Collector of Kurnool.

Before his appointment to the NTA, he was Secretary of the Social Welfare Department and the Andhra Pradesh Social Welfare Residential Educational Institutions Society (APSWREIS) in Guntur.

WHO IS AMIT SAMDARIYA?

Amit Samdariya is a 2016-batch Indian Revenue Service officer from the Customs and Indirect Taxes cadre.

A mechanical engineering graduate from IIT Delhi, Samdariya was serving as Joint Commissioner at the Directorate General of Goods and Services Tax Intelligence, Delhi Headquarters, before joining the NTA.

He joined the IRS in 2016 and was promoted from Deputy Commissioner to Joint Commissioner in May 2026.

CENTRE PLANS FOUR-TIER PAPER CHECKING SYSTEM

The appointments come as the government moves ahead with a comprehensive restructuring of the NTA’s examination system.

One of the key proposed changes is a four-tier question-paper checking process. The additional layers of scrutiny are intended to reduce errors and strengthen the security and reliability of examination papers.

The Centre has also decided to remove around 600 existing experts and bring in domain specialists as part of the restructuring exercise.

The changes follow years of scrutiny faced by the NTA over alleged examination irregularities, particularly the controversy surrounding the NEET examination.

PUBLIC FEEDBACK SOUGHT ON EXAM REFORMS

The government has also launched a public consultation on reforms to the country’s public examination system. Students, parents, teachers and other citizens have been invited to submit suggestions on improving examination security, accessibility and governance.

The consultation is being handled by a high-powered task force led by Nandan Nilekani, with the feedback expected to contribute to recommendations on reforms, including changes to the NTA’s examination framework.

The latest appointments are therefore part of a broader effort to strengthen the agency’s functioning as the Centre works to overhaul the examination system.

With new senior officers joining the NTA and several structural changes in the pipeline, the government is seeking to tighten examination processes and rebuild confidence among students and competitive-exam aspirants following the controversies surrounding major national-level examinations.