Pradeep Singh Kharola, The New NTA's Director General
The Union government has appointed Pradeep Singh Kharola, a retired IAS officer as the new Director General of National Testing Agency (NTA). The decision came amid the leveling charges of inefficiency on NTA following irregularities in the NEET UG – 2024 exam and the cancellation of the UGC-NET June 2024 exam held on June 18, 2024.
Pradeep Singh Kharola is a 1985-batch IAS officer from Karnataka cadre. He is a mechanical engineer graduate from Indore University. During his career, Kharola handled diverse departments including urban governance, public transport, and policy making. His biggest accomplishment as a civil servant was to protect the Bangalore Metropolitan Transport Corporation (BMTC), from incurring losses to a profitable entity in 2000.
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His achievements in services have also been recognized by the National Award for e-governance in 2021 and the PM’s Outstanding Public Administration Award in 2013.
Pradeep Singh has been assigned an additional charge of Director General of NTA until a permanent appointment is done. In 2022, he was appointed as the chairperson of the India Trade Promotion Organisation (ITPO). He also held positions including secretary of the Union Ministry of Civil Aviation and Joint Secretary of the National Administrative Reform Commission.
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Kharola replaced Subodh Kumar Singh who has put on compulsory wait in the Department of Personnel and Training. The appointment came amid public outrage over the NEET UG paper controversy and the cancellation of UGC-NET exams.
The government has also formed a seven-member committee to evaluate the NTA functioning and to recommend any reforms in its structure to bring transparency and smooth functioning. It is expected that his experience will bring a much-needed change in the efficiency of the testing agency and bring some relief to the students struggling to get into the college.
