Years before NEET row, NTA contracted 2 exam firms with murky record

Imagine spending years preparing for a job exam, only to discover that the process was flawed from the start. India has seen many such cases over the years, including those where assessment agencies were granted exam contracts despite their murky record. 

Last month, Newslaundry reported on how Edutest – blacklisted by the UP government over a police exam – got one exam contract after another despite a questionable past. But it wasn’t the only one. 

Two such assessment firms, in fact, were earlier given contracts even by the National Testing Agency, which has been under fire in recent weeks as the NEET exam controversy snowballs.

Eduquity Technologies

Founded by Ramachandra Dhirendra and Visweswar Akella in 2000, the firm claims to have introduced  online examinations and assessments in India, and has branches in Mumbai, Kolkata, Noida, Chennai and Hyderabad.

Eduquity’s name has surfaced in several paper leak and cheating cases. In 2020, it was blacklisted by the Central Directorate General of Training from conducting any exams. But it kept getting contracts to hold exams in different states.

In March 2022, Eduquity was contracted to conduct the Madhya Pradesh Teacher Eligibility Test. However, it took a commission and subcontracted the job to Rajasthan-based Sai Educare Private Ltd. The exam paper was leaked and went viral on social media. One year later, Eduquity was given another contract to conduct patwari exams in the state, which also faced cheating issues.

Then CM Shivraj Singh Chouhan stopped the recruitment process and ordered an inquiry by a retired high court judge. Six months later, in December 2023, the Madhya Pradesh Employees Selection Board again gave Eduquity a contract to conduct its exams.

Eduquity was also hired by the National Testing Agency despite such previous accusations. In March 2022, the NTA signed an agreement with Eduquity to conduct computer-based tests.

In March 2023, Eduquity was given a contract by Maharashtra’s Common Entrance Test Cell to conduct an MBA exam. Students alleged irregularities, including cheating and paper leaks. Later, over 150 students filed a plea in the Bombay High Court with the demand to re-conduct exams.

Satvat Infosol Pvt Ltd

The Chennai-based firm has also got several contracts despite a CBI FIR and a shady track record.

The IT solutions company was started by Ramesh Janardhanan and Sunithi S Ramesh in 1999. The couple now owns multiple companies identified as Nalang Pvt Ltd, Beeja Innovative Ventures Pvt Ltd, Violet Flame Info systems Pvt Ltd and Prov HR Solutions Pvt Ltd. They also run a wellness centre by the name of Satvat Holistics.

In May 2016, Satvat was given the contract to prepare question papers and assess OMR sheets for the Tiruchirappalli ordnance factory under the Ministry of Defence for exams for the positions of durwan, lower division clerk, and multitasking staff. Next year, the CBI lodged a case alleging a mismatch in candidate records and cheating, with the alleged role of a network of ordnance factory officials and the agency contracted to conduct the exam.

In 2019, Satvat featured in the headlines due to an alleged paper leak in the Railway Recruitment Board exams held in Thane for the posts of junior engineer, chemical and metallurgical assistant, and depot material superintendent.

The same year, the company was blacklisted by the ONGC and National Testing Agency for a period of two and three years, respectively.

The ONGC had given a contract to Satvat in 2016 for the implementation of its scholarship scheme, but it suspended the contract in 2018 over “inappropriate execution”, before the blacklist. The NTA’s reason for the blacklist, on the other hand, was a false declaration by the company.

Despite the controversies, Satvat continued to secure contracts. 

This year, it conducted exams for UP Police radio operator positions – this test too faced allegations of cheating using remote access techniques. The accused, including alleged mastermind Rachit Chaudhary, CRPF Jawan Brijendra Singh, his friend Karmveer, and a hacker from Haryana named Ram Chauhan, had allegedly set up a lab with 250 computers at Vidhan Public School in Ghaziabad, which was designated as an examination centre. Sixteen were subsequently arrested.

It also conducted a combined graduate-level exam for the Jharkhand Staff Selection Commission. After this paper was allegedly leaked, the commission issued a show-cause notice to the company, asking why it must not be blacklisted. Newslaundry could not verify the subsequent update in the matter.

Aptech

Started in 1986 by Atul Nishar as a computer training institute, Aptech was sold to Kalpathi Suresh, owner of Chennai-based IT training company SSI, in 2003. Two years later, ace investor Rakesh Jhunjhunwala acquired the firm and remained chairman until April 2021. It’s now chaired by Vijay Aggarwal. 

While it had started out as a computer training institute, Aptech evolved and began offering animation, multimedia, and English training courses over the years. It also acquired Ketan Mehta and Deepa Sahi’s Maya Academy of Advanced Cinematics. It has around 1,300 centres, many of them in countries such as Russia, Nigeria, Mexico, and the Philippines.

It started conducting exams by the end of the 2000s. It claimed to have conducted 15.5 lakhs online tests in 2012 and 18.1 lakhs tests in 2013. In 2013, it conducted the CMAT test at 124 centres across 62 cities. It kept getting contracts despite its credibility under cloud.

After an SIT probe against the firm over irregularities in the Uttar Pradesh Jal Nigam recruitment exam in 2016, the appointments of 1,188 of the total 1,300 candidates – selected as routine grade clerk, junior engineer and assistant engineer – were cancelled in 2020.

Despite the probe, the firm got another contract in 2018 to conduct recruitment exams for junior electrical engineers for the Uttar Pradesh Power Corporation Ltd. But the exam was marred by alleged cheating through remote access techniques. And the UP government blacklisted it in May, 2019.

In 2021, it was hired by the Rajasthan government to conduct the Rajasthan Police Constable recruitment, but six were arrested for cheating at one of the centres in Jaipur. An exam conducted by the firm for Delhi University’s LLB programmes was also cancelled due to an alleged paper leak in September 2020. Its record didn’t stop the company from getting a contract to conduct exams for Assam’s irrigation department in February 2020. The Guwahati High Court stayed the process after it was told that the company was already blacklisted in another state.

Despite this, Aptech conducted exams for class C and D posts at the Maharashtra Industrial Development Corporation in 2021. After students raised objections regarding the company’s record, the MIDC cancelled the exam and sought an explanation from the Maharashtra Information Technology Corporation Ltd, the nodal agency for state-level exams.

In 2022, after Aptech was given a contract by the Jammu and Kashmir Services Selection Board to conduct computer tests, there were protests in various parts of the Union territory. Curiously, the company had received the contract despite the tender notice clearly stating that participating firms must not be blacklisted or have any cases pending against them. After a petition before the J&K High Court, and eight months of protests, Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha announced in August last year that the company will be replaced. The new contract was given to TCS.

Aptech also conducted three exams for Kendriya Vidyalaya in February 2023 and all three papers were leaked in Varanasi, Ambala, Panipat, Leh and Bihar. 

In December 2023, CBI filed an FIR against Aptech and certain railway officials for allegedly leaking the question paper of the railway recruitment centre’s general departmental exam. As many as 8,603 candidates had appeared for  the exam at various centres in Indore, Mumbai, Surat, Rajkot, Ahmedabad, etc.

The FIR stated, “It is alleged that Aptech Limited was appointed as the exam conducting agency. The candidates appearing in GDC exam were supplied question papers along with answers prior to the commencement of exam and after payment of premium money. Moreover, a few days after examination they were also supplied exam results through unverified WhatsApp link whereas RRC-BCT Western Railway had not officially declared results for this exam.”

“The consultancy firm Aptech Consultancy Ltd role can't be ruled out as the paper has been assessed by multiple employees at their office as per forensic analysis report,” it claimed.

Despite these cases, protests, and petitions, Aptech was given a contract last month to conduct online exams for the Union Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology.

NSEIT Limited

A subsidiary of the National Stock Exchange of India, the Mumbai-based firm deals in digital technology and is chaired by Ramkrishnan Chandrasekhar and Anantharaman Sreenivasan.

In 2017, the NSEIT conducted the UP Police sub-inspector recruitment exam, but there were allegations of remote access cheating at an exam centre in Agra. Seven people, including three aspirants, were arrested, and the police probe suggested 138 security loopholes in the company’s policy. Triveni Singh, then additional SP and head of the cyber wing, had alleged that the NSEIT had acted negligently.

In October, 2020, the then Madhya Pradesh Professional Examination Board, earlier known as Vyapam and later rechristened as MP Employees Selection Board, signed an agreement with the company for the selection of examination centres and conduct of exams. 

In September, 2021, it terminated the contract due to the firm’s alleged dubious activities and flawed conduct. Three exams had been cancelled, including for recruitment for the agricultural department, nursing staff and para medical staff. The termination notice cited the agricultural staff paper.

This came after a board inquiry revealed that two persons deputed by the NSEIT had misused official access and downloaded question papers using a VPN. The matter first came to light with certain candidates scoring high scores despite a shoddy academic record.

The same month, an Uttarakhand forest guard recruitment exam conducted by the NSEIT was marred by cheating allegations, with a police probe suspecting the company of a role one year later.

Later that year, a UP Police sub-inspector recruitment exam conducted by the company faced  allegations of paper leak large-scale cheating through remote access. Around 150 people were arrested, including NSEIT employees. But the exam wasn’t cancelled.

MeritTrac Services Private Limited

The Bengaluru-based firm which is led by one Manjunath KP has been blacklisted twice over alleged irregularities.

In April 2017, the results of exams for a few courses at the Mumbai University were delayed due to irregularities in the online assessment carried out by the company. Some results were announced in November which delayed admission in postgraduate courses by six months. The contract for the next exam again went to MeritTrac.

In 2022, after large-scale protests by students, J&K service selection board recruitment exams for the posts of police sub-inspector, junior engineer and accounts assistant, were cancelled after a paper leak.

The board blacklisted the firm for two years and the CBI made the company the prime accused.

‘New normal’

Sanchit Sharma, a 29-year-old government job aspirant in Delhi, said paper leaks are the “new normal”, having experienced delay in two exams he sat for, including the SSC CGL exam in 2017 and an FSSAI exam in October 2021. “In the past seven years, 70 papers have been leaked, making us world leaders…appointing unqualified people, particularly those affiliated with the RSS, has led to this.”

Nishant Singh, a 28-year-old from Lucknow, said, “I appeared for the CSIR exam but cheating took place…It had been 10 years since the last CSIR vacancy, and even then, the government couldn't conduct the exam properly…I don’t understand why a blacklisted company gets the tender again. Who are the people awarding these tenders? A blacklisted company can’t get a tender without some irregularity.”

Newslaundry reached out to all the companies mentioned in the report to seek their comment on the accusations they have faced. 

In an email response, Aptech said the company has “a long-standing reputation for integrity and reliability, with no incidents of fraudulent practices or paper leaks involving our employees”.

“In the case of the referred examination held long back during Covid period, we cooperated fully with the investigating authorities and have voluntarily given all the information with respect to the concerned exam and no further intimation has been received regarding any wrongdoing against the company,” it wrote. “Our stringent security protocols and transparent practices have earned us the trust of government organisations and educational institutions. Our track record and commitment to excellence have ensured our continued success in securing examination contracts. The same has been duly acknowledged by way of appreciation received from various government authorities from time to time.”

This copy will be updated if a response is received from the four other firms.

Newslaundry also reached out to the NTA for comment. This copy will be updated if a response is received.

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