MSN: Delhi: Wednesday, 22 January 2025.
The National Testing Agency (NTA) has been in the eye of the storm amid alleged irregularities in the NEET, the undergraduate medical entrance exam, and the cancellation of the UGC-NET. As students and parents called for the agency's abolition, the Centre replaced the NTA's Director General Subodh Kumar Singh with Pradeep Singh Kharola.
Amid controversies and calls for reforms, a social media post claimed that the NTA is a private institution and does not fall under the Right to Information (RTI) Act. Senior journalist Pankaj Pachauri shared the NTA's certificate of incorporation under the Societies Registration Act on X, and wrote, "Shocking to know that the NTA is a private society deciding the future of the students to publicly funded government institutions. Not under RTI = no info. No public oversight = no accountability. That's why the govt and the ministry can wash their hands off the scam."
India TodayFactCheckfound
that the NTA is an autonomous body under the Department of Higher Education of
the Ministry of Education of India that comes under the RTI.
Our Probe
Perusing the NTA website, we found its certificate of incorporation under the Registration and MoA tab. The registration certificate states that it was incorporated on May 15, 2018, under the Societies Registration Act, 1860.
The NTA is an independent autonomous body created following Cabinet approval,which also provided a one-time grant of Rs 25 crore. The agency is administered by its general body, and chaired by its chairperson (appointed by the Government of India). The Centre can also issue directions to the NTA regarding its policies, which it's bound to comply with.
It's worth noting that autonomous bodies can be either statutory (created by an Act of Parliament) or non-statutory. The former are governed by the provisions of the Act under which they are created. The latter are governed by the Act under which they were incorporated, such as the Societies Registration Act, and Trust Registration Act. However, in both cases, the government exercises control.
Can you send RTI queries to the NTA?
Organisations and bodies need to fulfil certain criteria to be under the purview of the Right to Information Act. According to the act, this includes bodies that are formed by approvals or notifications issued by the government and also substantially financed by it. The NTA fulfils these criteria, making it a public authority for the application of the RTI Act.
While there have been questions about the transparency and accountability of these autonomous bodies in contrast to statutory autonomous bodies, the RTI portallists the National Testing Agency as one of the several public authorities to seek information under the Act.
There are several news reports on the responses sought by citizens from the NTA under the RTI Act. Some of these reports can be seen hereand here.
The last available report of the number of RTI queries processed by the NTA can be accessed herefor Financial Year 2022-2023.
Thus, it is clear that the NTA does fall under the purview of the RTI Act, and the viral post claiming otherwise is misleading.
The National Testing Agency (NTA) has been in the eye of the storm amid alleged irregularities in the NEET, the undergraduate medical entrance exam, and the cancellation of the UGC-NET. As students and parents called for the agency's abolition, the Centre replaced the NTA's Director General Subodh Kumar Singh with Pradeep Singh Kharola.
Amid controversies and calls for reforms, a social media post claimed that the NTA is a private institution and does not fall under the Right to Information (RTI) Act. Senior journalist Pankaj Pachauri shared the NTA's certificate of incorporation under the Societies Registration Act on X, and wrote, "Shocking to know that the NTA is a private society deciding the future of the students to publicly funded government institutions. Not under RTI = no info. No public oversight = no accountability. That's why the govt and the ministry can wash their hands off the scam."
Our Probe
Perusing the NTA website, we found its certificate of incorporation under the Registration and MoA tab. The registration certificate states that it was incorporated on May 15, 2018, under the Societies Registration Act, 1860.
The NTA is an independent autonomous body created following Cabinet approval,which also provided a one-time grant of Rs 25 crore. The agency is administered by its general body, and chaired by its chairperson (appointed by the Government of India). The Centre can also issue directions to the NTA regarding its policies, which it's bound to comply with.
It's worth noting that autonomous bodies can be either statutory (created by an Act of Parliament) or non-statutory. The former are governed by the provisions of the Act under which they are created. The latter are governed by the Act under which they were incorporated, such as the Societies Registration Act, and Trust Registration Act. However, in both cases, the government exercises control.
Can you send RTI queries to the NTA?
Organisations and bodies need to fulfil certain criteria to be under the purview of the Right to Information Act. According to the act, this includes bodies that are formed by approvals or notifications issued by the government and also substantially financed by it. The NTA fulfils these criteria, making it a public authority for the application of the RTI Act.
While there have been questions about the transparency and accountability of these autonomous bodies in contrast to statutory autonomous bodies, the RTI portallists the National Testing Agency as one of the several public authorities to seek information under the Act.
There are several news reports on the responses sought by citizens from the NTA under the RTI Act. Some of these reports can be seen hereand here.
The last available report of the number of RTI queries processed by the NTA can be accessed herefor Financial Year 2022-2023.
Thus, it is clear that the NTA does fall under the purview of the RTI Act, and the viral post claiming otherwise is misleading.
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