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NEET UG row: 27 of 101 Radhakrishan panel suggestions unimplemented so far
The earliest recommendations to be implemented were enhanced examination security measures introduced for JEE (Main) in January 2025.
Nearly two years after the Union government accepted the recommendations of the K Radhakrishnan committee set up in the aftermath of the NEET-UG 2024 controversy, only 57 of its 101 recommendations (56.4%) have been fully implemented and another 10 (9.9%) have been partially implemented, an analysis by HT shows.
Among the promises implemented, the most prominent were restructuring the National Testing Agency (NTA), strengthening it with domain-specific leadership and manpower, and building psychometric expertise to modernise assessment methods. To be sure, these were set in motion only over the past week in the wake of sweeping student protests.
The earliest recommendations to be implemented were enhanced examination security measures introduced for JEE (Main) in January 2025, including Aadhaar-based authentication, strengthened frisking, repeat biometric verification after bio-breaks and tighter candidate verification.
The government also announced plans to implement four more recommendations — introducing multi-session testing for large examinations, exploring a multi-stage format for NEET-UG, reducing the high-stakes nature of entrance exams through multiple opportunities, and eventually shifting NEET-UG to a computer-based, multi-session format — but is yet to roll them out.
A total of 27 recommendations (26.7%) remain unimplemented. This includes the proposed DIGI-EXAM identity verification system on the lines of ‘Digi Yatra’, hybrid and computer-assisted secure question paper transmission, mobile testing centres for remote areas, adaptive testing, oversight mechanism for coaching centres to reduce anxiety among students, international collaborations with global testing agencies, and the committee’s recommendation that NTA should primarily conduct entrance examinations rather than recruitment tests.
This means 57 proposals were implemented, 10 partially implemented, and 27 not implemented; three recommendations are currently under implementation, and plans have been announced to implement another four.
Neither the education ministry nor NTA responded to HT’s queries.
HT reached out to Radhakrishnan for a reaction, but couldn’t get an immediate response.
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A key recommendation by the panel was to disengage NTA from conducting recruitment tests. But documents reviewed by HT show that despite then Union education minister Dharmendra Pradhan’s December 2024 announcement that NTA would stop conducting recruitment examinations from 2025, the agency continued to handle such tests.
In 2025, NTA conducted the Uttar Pradesh Civil Court Staff Centralised Recruitment examinations held on January 4–5 and the Stage-II examinations for the high court of Gujarat, district courts, industrial courts and labour courts recruitment drive-2024 in March and May. It was subsequently entrusted by the Allahabad high court with two fresh recruitment drives through advertisements issued on March 12 and June 1, 2026, for the posts of private secretary grade-I and review officer, assistant review officer and computer assistant.
In all, the NTA conducts 15 major national entrance and eligibility examinations with a permanent staff strength of just 24, supplemented by 73 contractual and 124 outsourced personnel.
A member of the Radhakrishnan committee said the recommendation to keep NTA out of recruitment examinations was intended to allow the agency to focus exclusively on entrance tests and strengthen its institutional capacity.
“The whole idea was that NTA should stay focused on entrance examinations rather than spreading itself too thin. If it continues taking up recruitment tests for various agencies, the purpose of that recommendation is defeated,” the member said, requesting anonymity.
Another member said the panel “very clearly” recommended that NTA confine itself to entrance examinations. “Our responsibility was to examine the existing mechanism and submit recommendations. Their implementation is for the government to decide,” the member said, declining to comment on why the recommendation was not followed.
The seven-member high-level committee, headed by former ISRO chairman K. Radhakrishnan, was constituted in June 2024 after allegations of irregularities in NEET-UG 2024. It submitted its report in October 2024 with 101 recommendations aimed at overhauling NTA through stronger governance, tighter oversight of outsourced vendors, enhanced coordination with states, and technology-driven safeguards for both pen-and-paper and computer-based examinations.
The committee divided its recommendations into two phases—60 short-term measures and 41 long-term structural reforms.
HT’s analysis found that implementation was stronger in the first phase.
Of the 60 Phase-I recommendations, 46 were implemented, three partially implemented, two under implementation, three announced for rollout and six were pending. Prominent among them was rationalisation of CUET subjects from 63 to 37 from 2025 edition onwards.
By contrast, progress on long-term reforms was slower: of the 41 Phase-II recommendations, 11 were implemented, seven partially implemented, one under implementation, one was announced and 21 were pending.
Among the measures already implemented were strengthened governance mechanisms, closer coordination with state governments and test-indenting agencies, enhanced candidate verification and frisking, improved standard operating procedures, secure transportation and storage of question papers, AI-enabled surveillance, encryption protocols, better grievance redressal and tighter confidential examination processes.
Last week, after massive protests in Delhi over exam paper leaks,the government began to roll out structural reforms recommended in NTA. Sixteen new permanent posts were announced in NTA, which advertised specialist leadership positions in cybersecurity, digital forensics, assessment research and test-centre operations, besides recruiting young professionals through UPSC’s PRATIBHA Setu portal. The agency said the hiring was aimed at reducing dependence on outsourced manpower and implementing the Radhakrishnan committee’s recommendations.
However, staffing remains a concern. Official data show that only 24 of NTA’s 39 sanctioned permanent posts were currently filled, while the agency continues to rely on 73 contractual employees and 124 outsourced personnel.
