NTA chief sacked amid NEET-NET row, Pradeep Singh Kharola named new Director General

The Centre has sacked the chief of the National Testing Agency (NTA), Subodh Kumar Singh, amid a massive controversy over alleged irregularities in NEET and the cancellation of the UGC-NET exam. NTA conducts the NEET, UGC-NET, CUET and JEE (Main).

Singh has been put on "compulsory wait" in the Department of Personnel and Training, while retired Indian Administration Service (IAS) officer Pradeep Singh Kharola has been appointed as the new Director General of the exam body. 

In a statement on Saturday (June 22), the Ministry of Personnel announced that Singh, the former director general of the NTA, was replaced by Kharola. Kharola, currently the Chairman and Managing Editor of the India Trade Promotion Organisation, has been given additional charge as the Director General of the NTA "till the appointment of a regular incumbent or until further orders".

This move comes shortly after the government formed a committee to recommend improvements for the NTA's functioning and a day before approximately 1,500 students, who had been given grace marks for NEET, are set to retake the exam. The committee will be led by former Isro chief K Radhakrishnan.

Additionally, the CSIR UGC NET exam, scheduled for June 25-27, was postponed on Friday due to "logistical reasons".

The NEET-PG 2024 exam, scheduled for June 23, was also postponed.