A Parliamentary panel examining the NEET-UG 2024 paper leak controversy and the CBSE’s on-screen marking system (OSM) has sought detailed written responses from the National Testing Agency (NTA) and the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE), sources said.

The Parliamentary Committee on Education, Women, Children, Youth and Sports, chaired by Congress MP Digvijaya Singh, has asked the NTA to define what constitutes a “paper leak” and clarify whether any such incidents have occurred in examinations conducted by the agency since 2018.

The questionnaire follows the appearance of NTA officials before the panel last week, during which they reportedly maintained that there was no paper leak from the agency’s system and that some of the questions in circulation had originated from a guess paper.

The panel has also sought details of any inquiry conducted by the NTA into allegations of irregularities in NEET-UG 2024, apart from the ongoing CBI investigation. It has requested information on the agency’s staff strength over the past three years, recruitments made since 2022, annual reports submitted to the Higher Education Department, and action taken on the recommendations of the K Radhakrishnan Committee.

The expert committee, constituted by the Centre in June 2024 and headed by former ISRO chief K Radhakrishnan, was tasked with recommending reforms to improve transparency, examination processes and data security within the NTA.

The CBSE has been asked to respond to questions concerning the OSM contract, including reported changes in successive Requests for Proposals (RFPs) and the process followed in awarding the contract to COEMPT EduTeck.

According to sources, the panel has sought clarification on whether background checks were conducted on the company and whether its reported links to Globarena Technologies, whose software was criticised in an inquiry into the 2019 Telangana Intermediate examination results, were considered during the selection process.

The committee has also questioned changes in eligibility criteria across different RFPs, including provisions relating to bidder performance history, blacklisting, turnover requirements, data centre specifications, scanning infrastructure and project experience.

In addition, the panel has sought explanations for revisions to technical requirements, including the reduction of the minimum scanning resolution from 300 DPI to 200 DPI and the removal of provisions relating to robotic scanners and spine-preserving scanning of answer scripts.

Sources said the committee had earlier requested documents related to the February, May and August 2025 OSM tenders, which have not yet been shared by the CBSE.

The CBSE has been asked to submit its responses by June 8, while the NTA has been given until June 10. Both agencies are yet to respond, sources added.

Inputs from PTI

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