NEET leak impact: CISF to guard NTA premises, tighter monitoring of confidential areas

• NTA shifts confidential operations to a new 55,000-sq-ft Delhi office, with 39 CISF personnel deployed for security and access control

• The move follows the NEET-UG paper leak, with a CBI chargesheet flagging gaps in frisking and CCTV monitoring at NTA’s confidential section

• NTA tightens examination security, adding stricter access controls, encryption, live monitoring, cyber-response systems and independent audits

The National Testing Agency (NTA) has shifted its confidential and sensitive operations to a new office in Delhi and will now have Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) personnel guarding the premises as part of measures to tighten security following repeated examination paper-leak controversies.

The move comes after the 2026 NEET-UG paper leak triggered student protests and renewed scrutiny of the agency’s examination-security systems. The NTA had earlier faced criticism over its handling of the examination process, including lapses in the protection of confidential question papers.

A senior official said a dedicated 55,000-square-foot office space has been allotted to the NTA at the Government of India Press building on Minto Road. The agency had been operating from its Okhla office. Its confidential and sensitive operations have been moved to the new premises over the past month.

The new facility has designated confidential areas where access and movement will be closely monitored. The Union Home Ministry has approved CISF security for the premises, with 39 personnel deployed to oversee access control, screening and security at entry and exit points.

The security measures include frisking and baggage screening through X-ray machines and door frame metal detectors (DFMDs). CISF personnel will also regulate access to the confidential sections of the building.

The move follows findings in a CBI chargesheet into the NEET-UG paper leak, which identified three subject experts as primary sources of the leaked paper. According to the chargesheet, there was no checking or frisking of experts entering or leaving the NTA’s confidential section, allowing them to copy portions of question papers onto small chits made from sheets provided for rough work and translation.

The CBI also flagged the absence of a dedicated CCTV live-feed monitoring control room at the NTA office, which allowed the activities of the accused experts to go undetected.

The latest security overhaul comes amid wider efforts to strengthen examination integrity. After an earlier paper-leak controversy, a high-level committee headed by former ISRO chairman K Radhakrishnan had recommended tighter controls across question-paper systems, candidate registration, fee payment, admit cards, computer-based testing, OMR processing, result systems and other examination-critical infrastructure.

Following the 2026 leak, however, the Supreme Court reprimanded the NTA, saying the agency had “not learnt its lessons”.

The NTA is now working on a series of technical and physical safeguards, including strict access controls, stronger encryption, immutable logging and tamper-evident storage for examination-critical workloads.

Officials said security-readiness reviews will be conducted before every examination cycle in coordination with the NTA’s technology and test-security teams. The measures will cover biometric authentication, face matching, CCTV systems and live monitoring of examination-day operations.

The agency is also developing an examination-specific cyber-incident response system, with enhanced security operations centre monitoring and rapid-response capabilities during examination days.

To strengthen its information-security framework, the NTA has designated a dedicated chief information security officer (CISO). The agency has advertised the post of general manager and CISO, with the selection process at an advanced stage. Independent cybersecurity audits by CERT-In and C-DAC-empanelled agencies are also continuing.

With PTI inputs