"Repeated paper leaks reflect institutional rather than merely procedural failures." Examine this in the context of the NTA, and suggest reforms.

The National Testing Agency (NTA) conducts JEE-Main, NEET-UG, UGC-NET and CUET for about 1.2 crore candidates a year [1]. It added new safeguards after 2024, yet the NEET-UG 2026 leak still forced a nationwide re-examination [6]. Leaks keep happening because of how the NTA is built, not just because of lapses on exam day.

Procedural fixes were made, but the leaks continued

• Biometrics, mobile jammers and AI-based CCTV were added at exam centres [1]. They guard the exam hall, but not the paper-setting stage.
• The PE(PUM) Act, 2024 already provided 3–5 years' jail [4]. The threat of punishment did not stop insiders who already had the paper.

Institutional roots of the failure

• Insider threat: The CBI arrested a Pune lecturer who worked for the NTA and had access to the question papers [5]. The leak began inside the system.
• Thin staffing: Only 23 of 39 sanctioned posts are filled (41% vacancy), all on deputation [1]. This forces reliance on outside experts, and lessons leave when officers return to their parent departments.
• Weak accountability: The NTA is a society under the Societies Registration Act, 1860 [2]. It has no statutory duty to answer to Parliament.
• Slow implementation: The Radhakrishnan High-Level Committee (2024) reviewed the NTA's structure [3], yet the vacancies remain [1].
• Culture: The 382nd DRSC Report says "institutional culture matters as much as the procedures" [1].

Reforms

• Create an appropriate Parliamentary framework that fixes the NTA's duties and reporting [1].
• Build a large, continuously updated question bank. Use computer-based testing (CBT) to draw papers digitally close to the exam date [1], and offer mock tests to students less used to computers.
• Keep final paper-vetters isolated until the exam ends. Screen experts for conflicts of interest, excluding anyone linked to coaching centres [1].
• Build a permanent in-house cadre to fill the vacancies [1].
• Set up two-way feedback channels for students and parents [1].

In short, CCTV cameras and penal laws cannot make up for an understaffed agency that is not accountable to Parliament. Combining a statutory framework and a permanent cadre with question-bank-based CBT, as the 382nd DRSC Report recommends, would build prevention into the system. This would restore trust in merit-based selection and uphold the constitutional promise of equality under Article 14.