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Amidst the deep controversy of NEET paper leak, the Central Government has made major administrative changes in the National Testing Agency (NTA). Under these changes, new Joint Secretary and Joint Director have been appointed in the agency, which is being considered an important step towards strengthening the administrative and operational system of NTA.

In fact, the Appointments Committee of the Cabinet (ACC) has given the green signal to the appointment of two joint secretaries and two joint directors. According to the order issued by the government, Anuja Bapat and Ruchita Vij have been appointed to the post of Joint Secretaries. At the same time, Akash Jain and Aditya Rajendra Bhojgadia have been appointed to the post of joint directors. This reshuffle is being considered very important amid the increasing challenges and serious questions regarding the examination system and functioning of the agency in recent times.

Entry of Anuja Bapat and Ruchita Vij

According to the government order, Anuja Bapat, a 1998 batch officer of the Indian Statistical Service, and Ruchita Vij, a 2004 batch officer of the Indian Revenue Service, will serve as joint secretaries in the NTA for a tenure of five years. For this, the vacant Deputy Secretary level posts have been temporarily upgraded. The central government order also said that Indian Revenue Service (Income Tax) officer Akash Jain and Indian Audit and Accounts Service officer Aditya Rajendra Bhojgadia have been appointed to the post of Joint Director in NTA.

Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan had given the indication

Amidst these major administrative changes in NTA, Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan had accepted last Friday (15 May 2026) that there is a need for further reforms in NTA. He had said in clear words that we have received many important suggestions for reforms. Pradhan stressed that reform is a continuous process and it is our primary responsibility to ensure that NTA works zero-error.

Know the whole matter

It is noteworthy that on May 3 this year, more than 22 lakh students had given the NEET-UG examination. However, this exam was canceled this week after serious allegations of paper leak, leaving the future of lakhs of students hanging in the balance. Considering the seriousness of this entire episode, CBI has registered a case in the NEET-UG paper leak case and has formed its special teams for investigation. Taking major action in this case, a Delhi court on Saturday sent the alleged mastermind of NEET question paper leak PV Kulkarni and another accused Manisha Waghmare to CBI custody for 10 days. This arrest and judicial custody is being considered as an important turning point in the investigation as the investigating agencies are trying to get to the root of this huge scam.