New Delhi: The Congress on Monday criticised the Centre’s decision to constitute a high-powered task force on examination reforms, alleging that the move was aimed at diverting public attention from the government’s handling of recent examination controversies.
The Opposition’s response came a day after Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced the formation of a six-member panel headed by Infosys co-founder Nandan Nilekani to recommend measures for making India’s examination system more transparent, reliable and technology-driven.
Congress general secretary Jairam Ramesh questioned the need for a fresh committee, claiming that the government was yet to fully implement the 101 recommendations of the K. Radhakrishnan Committee, which was constituted in 2024 after alleged irregularities in several competitive examinations, including the NEET-UG examination.
In a post on X, Ramesh shared video clips of former Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan announcing the Radhakrishnan Committee in 2024 and Prime Minister Modi unveiling the new task force on Sunday. He alleged that instead of implementing the earlier committee’s recommendations, the government had chosen to constitute another panel.
The latest task force was announced a day after Dharmendra Pradhan resigned as Union Education Minister following weeks of student protests over alleged examination irregularities. The Prime Minister said the new panel would recommend reforms aimed at strengthening the credibility of future examinations.
“Our examination system should be reliable, our examination system should be transparent, and our examination system should now have the maximum use of technology,” Modi said while announcing the initiative.
He said the government had decided to constitute a high-powered task force under the leadership of “world-renowned technology expert” Nandan Nilekani and assured that measures to improve the reliability of upcoming examinations would be implemented at the earliest based on its recommendations.
The six-member panel brings together experts from technology, education, science, administration, intelligence and logistics.
Nandan Nilekani, co-founder and non-executive chairman of Infosys and the founding chairman of the Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI), will chair the task force. Former Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) Chairman S. Somanath, who led the Chandrayaan-3 mission, is expected to contribute expertise in designing robust, error-free systems.
The panel also includes former Intelligence Bureau Director Tapan Kumar Deka, whose experience in intelligence and cyber security is expected to help strengthen mechanisms against paper leaks and organised examination fraud.
Other members are IIT Madras Director V. Kamakoti, former Education Secretary Anita Karwal and former Bihar Chief Secretary Amrit Lal Meena. Together, they are expected to recommend reforms relating to cyber security, examination governance, logistics, academic policies and secure handling of question papers.
The government has said the committee will recommend measures to future-proof the National Testing Agency (NTA), strengthen technological safeguards and restore public confidence in India’s examination system.
The announcement comes amid heightened public scrutiny of competitive examinations following allegations of paper leaks and irregularities, which triggered nationwide student protests and eventually led to the resignation of Dharmendra Pradhan as Education Minister.
