NEW DELHI: The National Testing Agency (NTA) — which handled over 6.6 crore candidate registrations since 2018 for competitive exams such as NEET-UG, JEE and UGC-NET — currently has just 24 permanent officials against 197 contractual and outsourced personnel, govt told Rajya Sabha Wednesday.

The agency has 39 permanent posts filled through deputation.

But the post-wise strength disclosed by the education ministry adds up to 24. These include the director general, two joint secretaries, eight directors across two pay levels, six joint directors and research scientists, three deputy directors, two assistant directors and two senior superintendents.Alongside them, NTA has 73 people on contract, including 44 consultants, 17 young professionals, five senior consultants, three advisers and a senior software developer. Another 124 people, including data analysts, consultants, legal associates and housekeeping staff, have been outsourced. The ministry said 16 additional senior posts — eight each at director and joint director levels — have been created.NTA has conducted more than 270 exams since 2018.