Pradeep Singh Kharola was named by the Center on Saturday as the National Testing Agency (NTA)’s new director general, have a look at his bio, age and education
The appointment of Pradeep Singh Kharola was made in response to intense scrutiny the agency is currently under for allegedly leaking confidential documents and acting strangely during the NEET-UG 2024 exam.
Despite claims of paper leaks in NEET-UG and calls for its suspension, the government has cancelled UGC-NET. The government also declared on Friday that CSIR-UGC NET would be postponed.
Who is IAS officer Pradeep Singh Kharola new NTA DG, biography, age, education, batch and hometown state
Dharmendra Pradhan, the union minister of education, had previously stated that the NTA’s “top leadership” is being investigated for possible irregularities in the NEET and NET exams. He did, however, refute any paper leak in the rescheduled CSIR-UGC NET.
Pradeep Singh Kharola was born on September 15, 1961, in Dehradun, Uttarakhand.
Pradeep Singh Kharola of the NTA is an Indian Administrative Service (IAS) officer belonging to the Karnataka cadre, having joined in 1985. He obtained a degree in Mechanical Engineering from Indore University in 1982 and in 1984, he obtained a PG degree in Industrial Engineering from IIT Delhi. He also topped here and has obtained a Masters in Development Management degree from the Asian Institute of Management, Manila, Philippines.
According to accounts, the government’s initial attempt to privatize Air India was unsuccessful while Kharola was in office. He was named the next secretary of civil aviation in 2019.
He has been the chairman of the India Trade Promotion Organization (ITPO) since 2022. Kharola has been given the testing agency’s additional responsibility until a regular incumbent is appointed.
NTA and its shady chairman ๐งต Meet Dr. Pradeep Kumar Joshi, the serial offender who has no taste of merit but repeatedly secures coveted appointments by just being a loyal RSS man. His career is as phenomenal as any chamcha could dream of. Let’s go through his biodata. (1/n) pic.twitter.com/HZ8DLWD676
โ Congress Kerala (@INCKerala) June 23, 2024
Why NTA appointed Pradeep Singh Kharola?
The National Testing Agency (NTA) chief, Subodh Singh, was fired by the government on Saturday in response to complaints about problems with competitive tests. A seven-member team headed by K. Radhakrishnan, the former chief of ISRO, was also constituted to examine the NTA’s functioning and make recommendations for exam enhancements.
Subodh Kumar Singh is currently on “compulsory wait” in the Department of Personnel and Training (DoPT) till further notice, according to media reports. The significant ruling demonstrates that the government takes student careers seriously and that irregularities in exam administration will not be allowed.
Established in November 2017 under the Indian Societies Registration Act, 1860, the National Testing Agency (NTA) is an independent organization entrusted with administering entrance exams for admission to postsecondary education institutions. Exams including NEET, JEE, CTET, GATE, GPAT, GMAT, CAT, UGC-NET, and CSIR-UGC NET are administered by NTA.