National Testing Agency Floats Rs 7.5 Crore Security Tender Amid Paper Leak Controversy

The National Testing Agency has floated a tender worth an estimated Rs 7.5 crore to strengthen security at its offices and facilities, as part of efforts to tighten safeguards across the examination process following the NEET paper leak controversy, The Times of India reported.

According to the report, the tender, issued on July 25, seeks to appoint a security agency for the NTA headquarters at Minto Road, its regional office in Okhla and other notified locations. The contract will initially be valid for two years, with the option to extend it by one year twice. Bids can be submitted until August 17, while a separate tender for examination-grade printing services closes on August 20.

The move is part of a wider procurement exercise covering security, housekeeping and printing services, aimed at strengthening controls across the examination chain, including printing, storage, access management and protection of digital infrastructure, the report said.

The procurement exercise comes as NTA seeks to rebuild public confidence after the NEET paper leak controversy and strengthen safeguards against future breaches.

As per the tender document cited by The Times of India, the selected agency will be responsible for securing NTA employees, visitors, confidential examination material, server rooms, strong rooms, warehouses, record rooms and other sensitive facilities. It will also regulate entry and exit, verify staff and visitors, maintain logs and ensure that "only authorised persons enter restricted areas."

The security system will include door-frame and hand-held metal detectors, GPS-enabled guard patrol tracking, biometric attendance and digital incident-reporting systems, the report added.

In a departure from its earlier procurement approach, NTA has adopted a quality-and-cost based selection model for the contract. The tender states that "sensitive nature of NTA's examination ecosystem and confidentiality requirements" necessitated the change, with technical capability accounting for 70% of the evaluation and the financial bid carrying 30% weightage. Only bidders securing at least 70 marks in the technical assessment will qualify for the financial evaluation.

Bidders must have at least five years of experience in professional security services, an average annual turnover of Rs 10 crore over the past three financial years, and prior experience at high-security establishments such as central government institutions, examination agencies, universities, airports, hospitals or metro systems.

Further, bidders will have to furnish an earnest money deposit of Rs 15 lakh, while the successful agency will be required to provide a performance security equivalent to 5% of the contract value. The contract value excludes GST.

The tender also mandates strict confidentiality, requiring the selected agency and its personnel to safeguard information related to examination material, security arrangements and IT systems even after the contract ends, according to The Times of India.