New Delhi: Question paper leak of UGC-NET is an "institutional failure" of National Testing Agency (NTA) and the government will set up a high-level committee to look into its functioning and recommend reforms, Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan announced on Thursday amid a raging row over medical entrance exam NEET and cancellation of UGC-NET.

"The cancellation of UGC-NET was not a knee-jerk reaction. We got proofs that the paper had leaked on darknet and was circulating on Telegram and decided to cancel the exam," Pradhan said at a press conference.

"The paper leak is an institutional failure of NTA. We are assuring you that there will be a reform committee and action will be taken," he said.

"The government is going to form a high-level committee regarding reforms in NTA. The committee will be expected to make recommendations to further improve NTA, its structure, functioning, examination process, transparency and data security protocols. Zero-error testing is our commitment. The panel will be notified soon, it will also have global experts," he added.