The Supreme Court on Friday said the Centre should consider institutionalising the entire process of conducting the National Eligibility cum Entrance Test (NEET), observing that “quick temporary fixes” would not be enough to prevent recurring paper leaks.

A bench comprising Justice PS Narasimha and Justice Alok Aradhe made the observations while hearing a plea seeking directions to replace or restructure the National Testing Agency (NTA), the autonomous body responsible for conducting NEET and several other entrance examinations for higher educational institutions.

The bench said strengthening the NTA at an institutional level was necessary to prevent repeated instances of paper leaks and emphasised the need for a permanent structure.

“Strengthening the NTA's system institutionally is crucial to preventing recurring paper leaks. Merely immediate or temporary measures would not suffice,” the bench told Solicitor General Tushar Mehta.

The judges said the examination system required permanent staff and dedicated verticals, with deputation kept to a minimum.

“You must know that the permanency of the entire system is key. There should be a permanent setup, permanent staff, and permanent verticals. Very little deputation should be there. Only then a permanent structure will come up,” the bench observed.

The Court also expressed its intention to visit the newly upgraded facility of the NTA to assess its functioning and infrastructure.

“We will come and see whether the system actually exists, whether it is functional, and assess the manpower and other arrangements,” the bench said.

During the hearing, the Centre informed the Court that a high-powered panel headed by Infosys co-founder Nandan Nilekani, constituted to recommend structural reforms in the NEET examination system, has held extensive consultations and is expected to submit its first interim report by the end of September.

Solicitor General Tushar Mehta said the panel had been provided with all relevant suggestions and had also consulted members of an earlier committee headed by former ISRO chairman K Radhakrishnan.

The bench directed the Joint Secretary of the Department of Personnel and Training (DoPT), who is assisting the Nilekani-led panel, to file an affidavit detailing the steps taken so far.

The Centre has recently announced a comprehensive overhaul of the NTA's examination system. The proposed measures include a four-tier paper-checking process, removal of around 600 experts and the induction of domain specialists, among other reforms.

The changes come amid concerns over examination integrity and allegations of paper leaks. The government has also constituted the Nilekani-led task force to recommend structural reforms aimed at making the examination system more secure and resistant to leaks.

The NTA, established in 2017, conducts NEET-UG and several other national-level entrance examinations for admission to higher educational institutions.