NEW DELHI: A parliamentary panel on Wednesday questioned the National Testing Agency (NTA) over its failure to furnish utilisation certificates for Rs 10 crore of government funding, seeking to know whether the financial lapse had affected examination infrastructure, security, technology or other critical operations of the agency responsible for conducting high-stakes entrance tests for lakhs of students.
The Public Accounts Committee (PAC), headed by Congress MP K C Venugopal, took up the issue while examining outstanding utilisation certificates (UC) of various ministries, flagged by the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG), sources said.
The NTA had received a total of Rs 25 crore from the government, including seed funding provided after it was set up in 2017. Utilisation certificates for Rs 10 crore remain pending, according to the matter taken up before the committee.
Sources said the Ministry of Education assured the panel that the outstanding certificates would be submitted within 60 days.
The issue was figured out during the PAC’s examination of the “Outstanding Utilisation Certificates”, based on the CAG report. The meeting was attended by representatives of the Ministry of Finance and the Ministry of Education, among others.
During the meeting, Venugopal sought to link the accounting lapse to the NTA’s core responsibility of conducting examinations that determine admission and career opportunities for lakhs of students.
According to sources, the PAC chairman asked the ministry to explain whether the non furnishing of utilisation certificates had in any way affected the timely flow of funds to the NTA or the functioning of the agency and institutions associated with the examinations it conducts.
The panel also sought details on whether any examination-related activity had been delayed, compromised or adversely affected because of the pending certificates.
Given the NTA’s role in conducting some of the biggest entrance and eligibility examinations, the chairman also raised concern over the examination infrastructure, technology, security arrangements, manpower, testing centres, evaluation and result processing, besides other essential services.
Sources said Venugopal sought to know safeguards put in place to protect the fairness, reliability, transparency and timely conduct of examinations and ensure that shortcomings in financial management did not adversely affect students’ academic and career prospects.
