The National Testing Agency (NTA) has defended the presence of the IIT Madras director on its governing body, stating that it does not pose a conflict of interest. This comes after allegations from a petitioner in the NEET UG case, who claimed that the director’s involvement in a report on NEET irregularities created a conflict of interest.
The NTA clarified that while the IIT Madras director is an ex-officio member of the governing body, he does not participate in the core operational work of the NTA, which is handled by a separate managing committee. The governing body primarily focuses on policy matters.
Furthermore, the NTA stated that the IIT Madras director had nominated another professor to attend governing body meetings, who has not attended any meeting since December 2022. The director himself has not attended any governing body meeting since December 2022.
Regarding the NEET irregularities, the Centre presented a data analytics report from IIT Madras, which concluded that the mark distribution follows a typical bell-shaped curve, indicating no abnormalities. The report also found an overall increase in student scores, attributed to the reduction in syllabus and a wide distribution of high-scoring students across various cities and centers, suggesting a low likelihood of malpractice.
