India’s National Testing Agency (NTA) is functioning with a relatively small core team of 24 permanent employees, supported by 197 contractual and outsourced workers. The staffing detail highlights how the exam body relies heavily on non-permanent manpower for its day-to-day functioning.
Since 2018, the agency has managed more than 6.6 crore candidate registrations for competitive examinations in India. Those exams include NEET-UG and other large-scale entrance tests that involve extensive coordination, application processing and test administration.
The figures underline the scale of work handled by the NTA compared with the size of its permanent workforce. With a much larger number of contractual and outsourced personnel than regular staff, the agency’s operating model appears to depend significantly on external and temporary support.
The staffing structure is likely to draw attention because of the NTA’s central role in conducting high-stakes examinations for lakhs of students across the country. The numbers offer a snapshot of how the agency has been managing a massive exam system while working with a lean permanent establishment.
