Nilekani, Somanath Among Members of Modi's Exam Reform Task Force
Nilekani to lead overhaul of national exams
New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday announced the constitution of a high-powered task force, headed by Infosys co-founder Nandan Nilekani, to recommend reforms aimed at making the National Testing Agency's examination system more robust, transparent and foolproof.
In a video message posted on Instagram, the Prime Minister said the multidisciplinary task force would examine the maximum use of technology and suggest structural reforms to strengthen the conduct of competitive examinations.
"The government will work on the recommendations of the task force to establish a foolproof examination system," Modi said, adding that the panel's suggestions would help revamp NTA examinations from both technological and institutional perspectives.
According to the government, the task force will comprise experts from technology, education, security and public administration. Besides Nilekani, the members include former Isro chairman S. Somanath, former Intelligence Bureau director Tapan Deka, IIT Madras director V. Kamakoti, former education secretary Anita Karwal and logistics expert Amrit Lal Meena.
The announcement came a day after the 36-day nationwide agitation over the alleged NEET-UG paper leak ended with the resignation of Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan.
The Congress, however, dismissed the move, calling it an attempt to repair the government's image. Congress general secretary Jairam Ramesh said the Centre had already constituted a committee headed by former Isro chairman K. Radhakrishnan in 2024 following examination irregularities but had yet to fully implement its 101 recommendations.
He also alleged that the National Testing Agency (NTA) had functioned for nearly two years without a full-time director general and described the new panel as "a high-powered attempt to fix the Prime Minister's irretrievably compromised image."
The government maintains that the new task force will recommend long-term technological and structural reforms to restore confidence in the country's competitive examination system.
