NEW DELHI: The All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE) has written to the 14,000-odd institutions under its fold to furnish details of their IT infrastructure, unutilised space and power backup within their premises.
This comes after the National Testing Agency (NTA) requested the council to assist it in identifying centres suitable for holding computer-based tests across the country, following issues faced by candidates during multiple national-level competitive exams held by the agency this year.
The AICTE has given its institutions a deadline of September 15 to submit the details.
The letter, written on August 31 by NH Siddalinga Swamy, Adviser, Policy and Academy Planning Bureau of AICTE, to the vice-chancellors of technical universities and directors or principals of AICTE-approved government higher education institutes, asked them to furnish multiple details pertaining to infrastructure.
The details sought include the number of functional computers available at the institute, existing IT infrastructure and systems, and the status of networking and internet connectivity. The communication also sought details on power backup availability, CCTV and allied facilities.
The letter further asked the institutes to submit details of vacant or unutilised space that could potentially be considered for creating dedicated CBT Standard Testing Centres.
The NEET-UG entrance exam on May 3, held in pen-and-paper mode, had to be cancelled due to paper leaks, with the Education Ministry assuring that it would be conducted online from the following year.
A total of 49 candidates will take a retest of the All India AYUSH Post Graduate Entrance Test (AIAPGET) due to a power failure at a centre in Jaipur on August 22, while 3,765 students missed the Common University Entrance Test UG 2026 due to a technical glitch in the software and had to take a retest.
The NTA had on August 5 written to the AICTE asking it to obtain information from government institutions approved by AICTE for assessment of their suitability for development as Standard Testing Centres.
The communication asked all the institutions to treat the matter as important and time-bound and adhere to the deadline.
TNIE reached out to multiple people at the AICTE in connection with the communication, but they refused to speak about it.
NTA advisory to students
The NTA on Thursday issued an advisory to candidates pertaining to the large volume of grievances it received daily through email and social media. However, many of the grievances did not carry the right identifying details, it said.
“They do not carry basic identifying details, making it very difficult for our team to trace the candidate amongst lakhs of applicants and respond in a timely manner,” it specified.
It urged candidates to send the mail from their registered email ID, with the application name, the name of the examination, the issue as well as supporting screenshots or documents clearly.
“Send it to the dedicated helpdesk email for that specific examination, available on the respective exam's information bulletin and official website,” it added.