PM Modi announces Nandan Nilekani-led task force on exam reforms

• Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced the constitution of a high-powered task force headed by Infosys co-founder Nandan Nilekani to recommend reforms to make the exam system leakproof.

• The government will implement the suggestions of the task force on examination reforms, which will ensure the examination system is trustworthy and will bring transparency through maximum use of technology.

• A multidisciplinary group of domain experts will be part of the task force on reforms to be carried out for the examinations conducted by the NTA. 

• Besides Nilekani, other members of the task force are former chairman of ISRO S. Somanath, former director of the Intelligence Bureau Tapan Deka, director of IIT Chennai V. Kamakoti, former education secretary Anita Karwal, and logistics expert Amrit Lal Meena.  

• PM Modi’s announcement comes a day after the agitation, led by the Cockroach Janta Party (CJP), ended with the resignation of Dharmendra Pradhan as the Education Minister.

Who is Nandan Nilekani?

• Nandan Nilekani was the architect of Aadhaar and is the key person behind India’s Digital Public Infrastructure (DPI) ecosystem.

• Born in Bengaluru, Nilekani received his Bachelor’s degree from Indian Institution of Technology (IIT), Bombay.

• He has been a key figure in the Indian tech space.

• Nilekani is the co-founder and non-executive chairman of Infosys Technologies Limited. 

• He was the founding chairman of the Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) in the rank of a Cabinet Minister from 2009-2014.

• In January 2023, he was appointed as the co-chair of the ‘G20 Task Force on Digital Public Infrastructure for Economic Transformation, Financial Inclusion, and Development’.

• In 2006, he was awarded the Padma Bhushan. 

(The author is a trainer for Civil Services aspirants.)