SC seeks progress report from Nilekani panel, to inspect NTA facility

The Supreme Court has sought a progress report from the high-powered committee headed by Infosys co-founder Nandan Nilekani, which was constituted to recommend structural reforms in the National Eligibility-cum-Entrance Test (NEET).

Hearing a batch of petitions arising from this year's question paper leaks, a bench of Justices PS Narasimha and Alok Aradhe directed the Joint Secretary of the Department of Personnel and Training, who is coordinating with the panel, to file an affidavit detailing the progress made so far. The affidavit is to be submitted within two weeks, with the matter listed after three weeks.

The court was informed that the committee has held extensive consultations, including with members of the earlier committee led by former ISRO chairman K Radhakrishnan, and is expected to submit its first interim report by the end of this month.

The bench stressed that recommendations must not remain confined to paper. It observed that the institutionalisation of the entire NEET process is the most important aspect of the matter, noting that the Radhakrishnan Committee's report alone does not complete the exercise. Consideration of the recommendations and their implementation are the crucial next steps, the court said.

Justice Narasimha also said that he and Justice Aradhe would visit the newly upgraded facility of the National Testing Agency (NTA) near Minto Road to examine whether the system is actually in place and functioning, and whether adequate manpower is available.

The court underlined the need for a permanent setup, with permanent staff and verticals, and said that at least half of the NTA's staff should be permanent rather than on deputation from other departments. It also asked about the agency's collaboration with other institutions, data handling, and whether statutory backing is required.

The petitions before the court include one filed by the Federation of All India Medical Association through advocate Tanvi Dubey, seeking the replacement or restructuring of the NTA, digital locking of question papers, a shift to a Computer-Based Test model, and publication of centre-wise results to detect anomalies. Another plea, filed by the United Doctors Front through advocates Ritu Reniwal and Charu Mathur, seeks a statutory national testing body with better oversight and direct parliamentary accountability.

A separate petition has been filed by Rashtriya Janata Dal MP Sudhakar Singh, social activist Anubhav Garg, Indian Medical Association national spokesperson Dhruv Chauhan and political leader Harisharan Devgan, seeking a transition of NEET-UG to a CBT format and the replacement of the NTA with a new independent examination authority.

On August 19, the top court had directed the Centre to inform it about the steps taken to implement the recommendations of the Radhakrishnan panel and the Nilekani committee, observing that reforms in the NTA needed to be institutionalised.