Rajya Sabha Panel Tables 382nd Report on NTA Reforms

The correct answer is Mukul Wasnik. He is a Member of Parliament in the Rajya Sabha and heads the Department-related Parliamentary Standing Committee on Education, Women, Children, Youth and Sports, which placed the 382nd report on "Reforms and Strengthening of the National Testing Agency" before the Chairman of the Rajya Sabha on 9 October 2026. Option A is wrong because Dr K. Radhakrishnan, the former Secretary of the Department of Space, chaired the separate High-Level Committee of Experts on examination reform and only appeared before this panel as a witness. Option C is wrong because Harivansh is the Deputy Chairman of the Rajya Sabha and had no role in heading this committee. Option D is wrong because Jayant Chaudhary handles skill development as a minister and is not the chairman of this committee. For the examination, pair the report number with the chairman and the House.

The correct answer is about 1.2 crore. The committee records that the National Testing Agency conducts examinations in which roughly 1.2 crore students sit every year, which is why it describes the agency as the gateway to the higher education system. The tests named in the report include JEE-Main, NEET-UG, UGC-NET and CUET, and the panel points out that an all-India test such as NEET needs the Union, State and local administrations to work as one. Options A and B are wrong because they understate the figure given in the report. Option D is wrong because it overstates it. The number matters for the examination because the committee uses it to argue that the agency’s resources and accountability structures must match the size of the responsibility it carries, including a parliamentary framework for answerability.

The correct answer is NEET-UG. The committee notes that most entrance tests run by the National Testing Agency are already held on computers and that NEET-UG is the outlier still relying on pen and paper, so it recommends moving that test to computer-based testing as well. Options A, B and C are wrong because JEE-Main, CUET and UGC-NET are listed in the report as examinations already conducted in the computer-based format. The panel added a condition: the switch must follow heavy investment in government-owned infrastructure, particularly in Tier-2 and Tier-3 cities and rural areas, and the 1,000 secure government centres proposed by the High-Level Committee of Experts should be built to a clear phased timeline. It also suggested the agency fund IT labs of 100 to 200 nodes in schools and colleges that provide the space.

The correct answer is 23 officers in position against 39 sanctioned posts, a vacancy of 41 per cent. The committee flags this shortage and notes that recruitment of manpower was among the main recommendations of the High-Level Committee of Experts chaired by Dr K. Radhakrishnan. Option B is wrong because it invents a sanctioned strength that the report does not mention. Option C is wrong because 16 is the number of posts under the Central Staffing Scheme, which the panel says should be only a supplementary layer of senior leadership and not a substitute for domain expertise. Option D is wrong because the report states the opposite: all 39 permanent posts are currently filled through deputation, and since deputationists serve only two to three years, the panel wants a dedicated permanent cadre with specialists in psychometrics, examination security and data analytics.