Centre appoints two directors, joint director to National Testing Agency

New Delhi: The Centre has appointed two directors and a joint director to the National Testing Agency (NTA), which has been facing flak for issues related to the National Eligibility cum Entrance Test (NEET) paper leak, among other concerns. Ravi Kumar Singh (Indian Police Service officer) and Prasanna Venkatesh V, an Indian Administrative Service (IAS) officer, have been appointed as directors in the NTA, according to separate orders dated August 27, issued by the personnel ministry.

Amit Samdariya, a 2016 batch Indian Revenue Service (Customs and Indirect Taxes) officer, has been selected for appointment as joint director in the NTA, an order issued by the personnel ministry said.

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All three orders referenced a circular from the personnel ministry stating that the appointed officers must assume their new positions within three weeks of the orders' issuance, "failing which the process of debarment from the Central Staffing Scheme shall be initiated."

Recently, the government announced a comprehensive overhaul of the examination system at the NTA, including implementing a four-tier paper checking process, removing 600 experts, and onboarding domain specialists, among other changes.