Months After NEET Leak, NTA Floats Rs 7.5 Crore Security Overhaul
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Months after the NEET-UG 2026 paper leak sparked nationwide protests, the NTA has floated a Rs 7.5 crore tender to strengthen security at its Delhi headquarters with CCTV surveillance, trained personnel and tighter safeguards for confidential examination material.
By Sakshi Singh
New Delhi, August 3: The National Testing Agency (NTA) on Monday floated a Rs 7.5 crore tender to strengthen security and address gaps in its system. The contract includes the deployment of security personnel, installation of CCTV cameras and other measures aimed at preventing future paper leaks. These arrangements will be made at storage facilities at the agency's headquarters in Delhi.
The move comes in the wake of the NEET-UG 2026 paper leak, which snowballed into nationwide student protests and eventually led to the resignation of Dharmendra Pradhan as Union Education Minister.
According to the tender document, the initiative aims to safeguard NTA personnel, visitors, assets, premises, records, confidential examination material, server rooms, strong rooms and other critical infrastructure.
The Request for Proposal (RFP), issued on July 25, states that the estimated contract value is "Rs 7.5 crore plus GST (tentative) for a two-year contract without variation."
Bids can be submitted until 3 pm on August 17, while the tender process will conclude on August 20, the document said. The contract will initially be valid for two years and may be extended by two additional one-year terms, subject to satisfactory performance, mutual consent and approval of the competent authority.
The tender requires an earnest money deposit of Rs 15 lakh and will be evaluated under the Quality and Cost Based Selection (QCBS) model, with the technical score carrying 70 per cent weightage and the financial score 30 per cent.
"The bidder must have provided professional security services for at least five years as of the last date for bid submission," the document states.
The RFP requires bidders to have prior experience providing security services to Central government ministries, departments, autonomous bodies, public sector undertakings, constitutional bodies, universities, examination agencies, IT parks, airports, hospitals, metro rail systems or other establishments requiring round-the-clock security.
Bidders must also have an average annual turnover of not less than Rs 10 crore during the last three financial years.
The document states that "the selected agency shall deploy professionally trained, physically fit, police-verified and experienced security personnel." The scope of work includes access control, premises protection, patrolling, security of confidential examination material, CCTV monitoring, visitor management, fire and emergency response, and incident reporting.
The tender further states that security personnel must ensure the protection of "confidential examination records", "examination logistics", "digital storage media" and strong rooms containing examination-related material and other sensitive files entrusted to the NTA.
The RFP also specifies that security personnel must not "access, handle, copy, photograph or disclose" any confidential information encountered during the course of their duties. During examination-related activities, the agency will be required to deploy additional personnel for crowd management, queue regulation, protection of confidential examination material and assistance in the movement of sensitive materials.
The selected agency must also be capable of mobilising additional trained manpower at short notice, in line with NTA's operational requirements across the Delhi-NCR region. The tentative deployment includes 40 unarmed male guards, 10 female guards and two security supervisors.
The NTA has reserved the right to increase, reduce, redistribute or modify the deployment during the contract period, with manpower requirements varying by up to 50 per cent. The RFP notes that the agency conducts "high-stakes national entrance examinations involving handling of confidential records, information technology infrastructure, examination-related materials and public interface."
It further states that the NTA's mission is to develop and administer "research-based, valid, reliable, efficient, transparent, fair, and internationally benchmarked assessments", while upholding "the principles of quality, efficiency, effectiveness, equity, and security in all its examinations."
The tender comes after months of intense public scrutiny following the NEET-UG 2026 paper leak, which raised serious concerns over the integrity and security of the country's largest medical entrance examination. The controversy brought the handling and movement of confidential examination material, security arrangements and safeguards against unauthorised access to sensitive records under the spotlight.
(With PTI Inputs)
