PM Narendra Modi; Nandan Nilekani
NEW DELHI: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday announced a high-powered task force headed by technology entrepreneur Nandan Nilekani to recommend measures for making India’s public examinations leak-proof, transparent and technology-driven, signalling a fresh push to overhaul the country’s testing system after the NEET-UG paper leak.Addressing the nation, Modi said the government would act on the panel’s recommendations to build a “foolproof” examination system.“The Nilekani committee will give suggestions on maximum use of technology for making exams clean and transparent,” the Prime Minister said. “The government will work on the suggestions of the Nilekani committee to ensure a foolproof examination system.” He added that the panel would recommend measures for broader examination reforms.
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The multidisciplinary task force has been constituted to revamp the National Testing Agency (NTA), particularly from a technology perspective, while also suggesting structural reforms in the examination system.Besides Nilekani, the panel comprises former ISRO chairman S Somnath, former Intelligence Bureau director Tapan Deka, IIT Madras director V Kamakoti, former education secretary and former CBSE chairperson Anita Karwal, and logistics expert Amrit Lal Meena. According to the government, the task force will recommend ways to maximise the use of technology across the examination cycle to improve transparency, plug vulnerabilities and prevent paper leaks. It will also suggest structural changes to strengthen the integrity and credibility of high-stakes entrance examinations.The announcement comes as the Centre is implementing reforms in the NTA following the recommendations of the K Radhakrishnan committee, which had proposed changes in the agency’s governance, security protocols and examination processes after the NEET-UG paper leak.The fresh panel is expected to complement those reforms by preparing a long-term technology roadmap for secure and transparent examinations.The move also comes a day after Union education minister Dharmendra Pradhan resigned, taking moral responsibility for the NEET-UG paper leak that triggered nationwide protests and prompted the Centre’s wider overhaul of the examination system.
