NEW DELHI: In an effort to relieve the CBSE, the AICTE and other agencies from the responsibility of conducting entrance examinations, the Union Cabinet chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi cleared a proposal on Friday for the creation of a National Testing Agency (NTA).The agency will aim to bring high reliability, standardised difficulty level for assessing the aptitude, intelligence and problem solving abilities of students.Barring the Board exams, the CBSE will be relieved of entrance tests like the Joint Engineering Entrance (JEE), NEET, the UGC's National Eligibility Test (twice a year), Central Teacher Eligibility Test (twice a year) and the entrance test for Jawahar Navodaya Vidyalayas.An official statement said the NTA will be created as a society registered under the Indian Societies Registration Act, 1860, and as an autonomous and self-sustained premier testing organisation to conduct entrance examinations for higher educational institutions.The NTA would initially conduct entrance examinations which are currently conducted by the CBSE. Other examinations will be taken up gradually by the NTA.Under the NTA, the entrance examinations will be conducted in online mode at least twice a year, giving adequate opportunity to candidates to bring out their best, a statement said.In order to serve the requirements of rural students, it would locate centres at sub-district and district level and as far as possible would undertake hands-on training for the students.The NTA will be chaired by an eminent educationist appointed by the human resources development ministry. The CEO will be the director general, who will be appointed by the government, and there will be a board of governors comprising members from user institutions. The director general will be assisted by nine verticals headed by academicians and experts.The NTA will be given a one-time grant of Rs 25 crore from the Centre to start its operation in the first year. Thereafter, it has to be financially self-sustainable.Establishment of the NTA will benefit about 40 lakh students appearing in various entrance examinations.In view of the need to have a specialised body in India like in most advanced countries, the finance minister in the Budget speech of 2017-18 had announced setting up of such an agency.