Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday announced the setting up of a high-powered task force under Infosys co-founder Nandan Nilekani in the next step towards examination reforms in the wake of massive students’ protests in Delhi and other cities against alleged paper leaks.
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The announcement comes a day before the Union government will move a bill in Parliament to implement harsher punishment and heavier penalties of up to ₹10 crore for those convicted of paper leaks. It also comes a day after Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan resigned from the Council of Ministers due to the Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) protest.
The panel will submit recommendations for immediate steps to secure upcoming tests. The task at hand for the panel is to overhaul India’s national examination and testing systems to make them leakproof and secure.
It will also look at maximising the use of advanced technology to build a transparent, future-ready process.
In a video message, the PM said that while the announcement of setting up fast-track courts to try cases of irregularities in examinations has been made on a video posted on X on Thursday, and the government is preparing to move a bill, the task force is being set up with an eye on the future and overall examination reforms.
Union education minister Dharmendra Pradhan resigned on Saturday following weeks of sweeping protests led by Abhijeet Dipke’s CJP.
This is the first time that a popular street protest has forced the resignation of a Union minister in the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) government’s three terms. While MJ Akbar had resigned as a minister in 2018, it was said to be his own decision, in the wake of the #MeToo movement, rather than under pressure from a street protest.
Union consumer affairs minister Pralhad Joshi was given additional charge of the education ministry.
On Sunday, Joshi took additional charge of the education ministry at Kartavya Bhavan. He chaired a meeting in which he reviewed the implementation of various schemes and initiatives of the Department of School Education and the Department of Higher Education, officials said.
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According to government sources, the committee will comprise a multidisciplinary group of domain experts to help revamp the NTA examination, especially from a technology perspective, and to support structural reforms in the system. These will be:
