The Centre has appointed two directors and a joint director to the National Testing Agency (NTA) amid continued scrutiny of the examination body over NEET and other exam-related issues.
The appointments come as the government moves ahead with plans for a major overhaul of the NTA’s examination system.
IAS, IPS, IRS OFFICERS JOIN NTA
According to separate orders issued by the personnel ministry on August 27, Ravi Kumar Singh, an Indian Police Service officer, and Prasanna Venkatesh V, an Indian Administrative Service officer, have been appointed as directors at the NTA.
Amit Samdariya, a 2016-batch Indian Revenue Service officer from the Customs and Indirect Taxes cadre, has been appointed as joint director.
The three officers have been instructed to assume their new roles within three weeks of the orders being issued.
The orders also state that failure to join within the prescribed period could lead to the initiation of the “process of debarment from the Central Staffing Scheme”.
WHO IS RAVI KUMAR SINGH?
Ravi Kumar Singh is a 2012-batch IPS officer from the Arunachal Pradesh-Goa-Mizoram-Union Territories cadre.
He was directly recruited through the UPSC Civil Services Examination and served as Deputy Commissioner of Police in the Economic Offences Wing of Delhi Police at Pay Level 13 before being appointed NTA director.
Singh joined the IPS in September 2012 and has nearly 14 years of service.
WHO IS PRASANNA VENKATESH V?
Prasanna Venkatesh V is a 2012-batch IAS officer from the Andhra Pradesh cadre. An agriculture graduate from Tamil Nadu Agricultural University, he has served in several administrative positions, including District Collector and District Magistrate of Eluru, Municipal Commissioner of Vijayawada and Joint Collector of Kurnool.
Before taking up his NTA role, he was serving as Secretary of the Social Welfare Department and the AP Social Welfare Residential Educational Institutions Society (APSWREIS) in Guntur.
WHO IS AMIT SAMDARIYA?
Amit Samdariya is a 2016-batch IRS officer from the Customs and Indirect Taxes cadre. He holds a mechanical engineering degree from IIT Delhi.
Before joining the NTA as joint director, Samdariya was working as Joint Commissioner at the Directorate General of Goods and Services Tax Intelligence at its Delhi headquarters.
He entered the service in 2016 and was promoted from Deputy Commissioner to Joint Commissioner in May 2026.
NTA TO UNDERGO EXAM SYSTEM OVERHAUL
The appointments come soon after the government announced plans for a comprehensive restructuring of the NTA’s examination system.
One of the proposed measures is a four-tier paper-checking mechanism designed to introduce additional levels of scrutiny for question papers.
The government has also decided to remove around 600 experts and replace them with domain specialists as part of the restructuring process.
The Centre is also seeking public feedback on reforms to public examinations, including the NTA’s functioning. The responses will assist the Nandan Nilekani-led task force in preparing recommendations related to examination security, access and governance.
The NTA has faced significant scrutiny in recent years over alleged irregularities in examinations, including the controversy surrounding the NEET paper leak.
The latest appointments come as the agency prepares to implement reforms aimed at strengthening examination procedures and restoring confidence among students and examination aspirants.
