PM Modi Picks Aadhaar Architect Nandan Nilekani to Lead New 6-Member Task Force on Exam Reforms

Prime Minister Narendra Modi has constituted a six-member task force headed by Infosys co-founder Nandan Nilekani to recommend sweeping reforms to the public examination system conducted by the National Testing Agency (NTA), aiming to make it leak-proof, transparent and technology-driven. The announcement, made in a video message on Sunday, came a day after the 36-day agitation led by the Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) ended with the resignation of Dharmendra Pradhan as Education Minister. Modi said those "who played with the future of the students" have already been jailed, and that a new anti-paper-leak law would be introduced in Parliament.

The protest, which began at Jantar Mantar on June 20, demanded accountability over the NEET-UG 2026 paper leak and irregularities in CBSE's on-screen marking, and drew support from thousands of students and major opposition parties nationwide. It gained momentum after visuals of activist Sonam Wangchuk's deteriorating health during his fast went viral. Police forcibly shifted him to hospital on July 18, and a march to Parliament on July 20 saw lathicharge and tear gas. Talks concluded Saturday with the government agreeing to Pradhan's resignation, compensation for families of students who died by suicide, and withdrawal of related FIRs.

Alongside Nilekani, the panel includes 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. Nilekani, architect of Aadhaar and a key figure behind UPI, co-founded Infosys in 1981 with N R Narayana Murthy and others, later serving as its CEO and now its non-executive chairman. Somanath brings expertise in large-scale technology systems; Deka, a veteran of counter-terrorism operations including the 26/11 investigation, is expected to strengthen security from paper-setting to candidate verification; Karwal, a former CBSE chairman who faced a board paper leak herself in 2018, offers policy depth; Kamakoti, who led development of India's indigenous Shakti microprocessor, provides technical grounding; and Meena, a seasoned Bihar-cadre IAS officer, will handle logistics.

The government is also introducing the Public Examinations (Prevention of Unfair Means) Amendment Bill, 2026, in the Lok Sabha on Monday, proposing fast-track courts in every state, investigations within two months, prison terms of up to 10 years, fines up to Rs 50 lakh for individuals, and up to Rs 10 crore for organised crime linked to leaks.

The Supreme Court on Monday said it would await the task force's recommendations before deciding on shifting NEET to a fully online format, with Justices P S Narasimha and Alok Aradhe calling for "out-of-the-box" safeguards on cyber security and database protection. Solicitor General Tushar Mehta informed the bench of the task force's formation. The plea, filed by RJD MP Sudhakar Singh after NTA cancelled the May 3 exam on May 12 over leak allegations and held a retest on June 21, after the court had earlier, on June 1, declined urgent hearing for a computer-based retest, is now listed for August 3. The CBI continues to investigate the leak.