NTA Has 24 Of 39 Permanent Posts Filled, Relies On 73 Contractual & 124 Outsourced Staff: Centre Tells Rajya Sabha
The Union Government has informed Parliament that the National Testing Agency (NTA) has only 24 of its 39 sanctioned permanent posts filled, with the remaining 15 lying vacant, even as the agency continues to conduct large-scale national entrance examinations across the country.
In a written reply to an unstarred question in the Rajya Sabha on July 22, 2026, Minister of State for Education Dr. Sukanta Majumdar said the NTA functions with a mix of permanent, contractual and outsourced personnel.
According to the reply, the NTA presently has 39 permanent posts, all of which are to be filled through deputation. Of these, 24 posts are occupied while 15 remain vacant. The government added that, to strengthen the agency, 16 additional posts (eight at the Director level and eight at the Joint Director level) have been created and are to be filled under the Central Staffing Scheme.
The permanent staff currently includes one Director General, two Joint Secretaries, one Director (Level 14), seven Directors (Level 13), six Joint Directors/Research Scientists, three Deputy Directors, two Assistant Directors and two Senior Superintendents.
Apart from its permanent workforce, the NTA has engaged 73 contractual personnel, including one General Manager (Communication), one Senior Advisor, three Advisors, five Senior Consultants, 44 Consultants, one Senior Software Developer, one Office Assistant and 17 Young Professionals.
The agency has also outsourced 124 personnel for roles such as Data Analysts, Consultants, Junior Consultants, Legal Associates and housekeeping staff.
The Ministry stated that, depending on the nature of examinations, the NTA also deploys large numbers of field-level personnel, including observers, city coordinators, centre supervisors and members of State and District Level Coordination Committees in coordination with State governments, Union Territories, centrally funded higher educational institutions and schools.
Responding to questions on examinations conducted by the agency, the government said that since its inception in 2018, the NTA has conducted over 270 examinations covering more than 6.6 crore candidate registrations.
For 2026, the Ministry said the NTA has conducted 12 examinations so far, recording over 65 lakh candidate registrations. The reply noted that the NEET (UG) 2026 examination was held on May 3, 2026, at 5,432 centres across 565 cities in 13 languages, while the re-examination was conducted on June 21, 2026, with results declared on July 16, 2026.
The statement also disclosed the agency's financial position. According to the NTA's accrual-based income and expenditure accounts approved by its governing body, the agency reported:
According to the NTA's accrual-based income and expenditure accounts, the agency's finances have grown significantly over the years. In 2019-20, the NTA reported an income of about ₹504 crore and expenditure of about ₹440 crore. In 2020-21, its income stood at around ₹515 crore, while expenditure was about ₹436 crore. For 2021-22, the agency recorded approximately ₹508 crore in income and ₹427 crore in expenditure. The figures rose sharply in 2022-23, when the NTA reported about ₹901 crore in income and ₹682 crore in expenditure. In 2023-24, the agency's income increased further to around ₹1,117 crore, with expenditure reaching about ₹1,041 crore.
The information was furnished in response to a question by Rajya Sabha member Dr. V. Sivadasan, who had sought details regarding the NTA's staffing, examinations, re-examinations, registration fee collections and expenditure over the last five years.
The Supreme Court is at present seized of a bunch of petitions seeking the disbanding of the NTA in the wake of the recent NEET paper leak.