How NTA chief Joshi rose despite setbacks
Professor Pradeep Kumar Joshi from Jabalpur is closely associated with the ruling BJP.
As the National Testing Agency (NTA) finds itself embroiled in controversies due to paper leaks and discrepancies in question papers across several examinations, it becomes essential for readers to know about its chief, Pradeep Kumar Joshi. According to a report by The Wire, Jabalpur's Professor Pradeep Kumar Joshi is closely associated with the ruling BJP at the Centre, and during his tenure, 13 incidents involving controversies, examination-related hurdles, and even paper leaks have come to light.
According to The Wire, when Pradeep Kumar Joshi was recommended for the position of Chairman of the Madhya Pradesh Public Service Commission (MPPSC), the Special Branch of the Madhya Pradesh Police conducted a background check and prepared an internal note. This note was meant for the Chief Minister's secretary. 'The Wire' has seen a copy of this internal note, which was obtained by Bhopal activist Ajay Dubey under the Right to Information (RTI) Act. The purpose of the note was to bring to light any potentially serious or objectionable facts about Joshi.
The note detailed Joshi's job and position at the time. It also clearly stated that Jabalpur's Professor Joshi had close ties with top BJP leaders Murli Manohar Joshi and former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee. Media reports even described Murli Manohar Joshi as his relative.
As if that was not enough. And indeed, it proved sufficient. Just a few days later, Joshi took the oath of the constitutional position of MPPSC Chairman. In this role, he was responsible for conducting examinations for candidates aspiring to join government service. His tenure in this role was later marred by several controversies.
This same Pradeep Kumar Joshi is now the head of the National Testing Agency (NTA). NTA is responsible for conducting competitive examinations, which in recent years have been plagued by incidents of paper leaks. These include the National Eligibility-cum-Entrance Test (NEET). After the NEET paper leak in May, widespread protests erupted, and at least 21 candidates lost their lives.
Questions have been raised about the role of Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan in this entire matter, but Joshi's role seems to have largely escaped scrutiny and discussion. Joshi's career has been quite impressive. Over the past 20 years, he has held several important and powerful positions in BJP-ruled states as well as in New Delhi under the Narendra Modi government. During almost every tenure, controversies such as paper leaks, irregularities, favoritism, and incompetence have surfaced. Despite this, Joshi has emerged almost unscathed from all these controversies. Not only that, his stature has continued to rise amidst the controversies. From MPPSC Chairman, he became the Chairman of the Chhattisgarh Public Service Commission, then he was made a member of the Union Public Service Commission (UPSC), and later he became the UPSC Chairman. Now he is the head of NTA under the Modi government.
According to 'The Wire', at least 13 incidents involving controversies, examination-related hurdles, and even paper leaks have come to light during Joshi's nearly 20-year-long career. In just the three years of his current tenure at NTA, at least 11 incidents of paper leaks or examination disruptions have occurred. Retired IAS officer and former Education Secretary Anil Swarup questioned the lack of accountability regarding Joshi during a conversation on the 'Wone' podcast last week.
Swarup said,
The reputation and credibility of any organization depend on who is leading it. No one is discussing who the Chairman of NTA is and what his past record is.
He further said,
In 2024, there was a paper leak, nothing happened against him. In 2026, there was another leak, yet there is no discussion. You keep firing employees, but it is crucial to see who is leading an organization. Appointing someone to lead an organization is a political decision.
While examining Joshi's record, 'The Wire' found that during his tenure in these various positions, several instances of paper leaks, repeated irregularities, delays, and other controversies surfaced in the examinations conducted by the respective institutions.
In fact, during Joshi's tenure, for the first time in NTA's history, an incident occurred that raised serious questions about the agency. In the ten-year history of NEET, neither had the exam paper been leaked before, nor was there ever a need to conduct the exam again. But in May 2026, under Joshi's leadership, the NEET Undergraduate (UG) exam paper was leaked, leading to the cancellation of the exam, and more than 20 lakh candidates had to retake the exam.
This failure of NTA under Joshi's leadership proved extremely serious for countless candidates and their families, who had worked hard for years and invested their resources and time in exam preparation.
When NTA announced the re-examination, the thought of going through the same process again proved extremely stressful for many candidates. Sana Sheikh, a 19-year-old candidate, had performed brilliantly in the NEET exam held on May 3 and was very happy with her performance. A day before the re-examination, Sheikh took her own life at her home in Hyderabad. She left a note saying, "Forgive me." Between the original exam and the re-examination, at least 21 NEET candidates also took their own lives.
On July 25, news portals reported that NTA had dismissed 47 of its employees. However, the Modi government neither officially confirmed these reports nor disclosed the names and positions of the dismissed employees or the basis on which they were dismissed. Recently, NTA also issued a tender worth ₹7.5 crore. Under this, a private security agency is to be appointed, whose job will be to "secure NTA's employees, visitors, properties, premises, confidential examination materials, server rooms, strong rooms, warehouses, record rooms, and other critical infrastructure holding sensitive examination records."
An RTI application filed by Suchak Patel for ‘The Quint’ revealed that under Joshi's leadership, NTA is grappling with several institutional problems. These include 38% vacancies in the total positions of NTA employees. At the senior director level, this vacancy rate rises to 70%. The RTI also revealed that despite continuous failures, NTA did not adequately consult its governing board. Only two board meetings were held between January 2024 and June 2026.
'The Wire' attempted to contact Pradeep Kumar Joshi and the Union Ministry of Education several times via email to get their perspective, but no response was received from their side.