The National Testing Agency (NTA), the body responsible for conducting some of India's biggest entrance and recruitment examinations, is functioning with only 24 permanent officials despite managing more than 270 examinations since 2018. The Ministry of Education shared this information in a written reply in the Rajya Sabha on Wednesday. The agency has also processed over 6.6 crore candidate registrations during this period.

The ministry informed Parliament that the NTA has 39 sanctioned permanent posts, which are meant to be filled through deputation. However, the staffing details submitted by the ministry show that only 24 of these positions are currently occupied. The figures highlight the gap between the approved strength and the actual number of permanent employees working at the agency.

The existing permanent workforce includes the Director General, two Joint Secretaries, eight Directors across two pay levels, six Joint Directors and Research Scientists, three Deputy Directors, two Assistant Directors and two Senior Superintendents. These officials oversee the agency's core administrative and operational work while handling examinations conducted across the country.

To manage its growing responsibilities, the NTA has hired a large number of contractual personnel. The ministry stated that the agency currently employs 73 contractual staff members. This group includes 44 consultants, 17 young professionals, five senior consultants, three advisers and one senior software developer. These employees assist the agency in carrying out its examination-related work and other operational responsibilities.

Apart from contractual employees, the NTA also depends heavily on outsourced personnel. According to the ministry, the agency has engaged 124 outsourced staff members. This workforce includes data analysts, consultants, legal associates and housekeeping personnel. Together, the contractual and outsourced workforce stands at 197 employees. These personnel support the agency in conducting examinations, handling technical tasks and managing administrative functions.

The Ministry of Education also informed the Rajya Sabha that the government has approved 16 additional senior-level posts to strengthen the NTA's functioning. These newly created positions include eight Director-level posts and eight Joint Director-level posts. The move aims to improve the agency's administrative capacity as it continues to handle a large number of national-level examinations every year.

The NTA was established in 2018 as the country's dedicated testing agency. Since then, it is responsible for conducting several major entrance and recruitment examinations. These include high-stakes tests such as the National Eligibility-cum-Entrance Test for Undergraduate courses (NEET-UG), the Joint Entrance Examination (JEE) and the University Grants Commission National Eligibility Test (UGC-NET). Millions of candidates appear for these examinations each year.

According to the information shared by the ministry, the NTA has conducted more than 270 entrance and recruitment examinations since its establishment. During the same period, it has handled over 6.6 crore candidate registrations. These figures reflect the scale of operations managed by the agency despite having a limited permanent workforce.