Prime Minister Narendra Modi has constituted a high-powered task force chaired by Infosys co-founder Nandan Nilekani to recommend comprehensive reforms for examinations conducted by the National Testing Agency (NTA). The six-member multidisciplinary panel brings together domain experts from space technology, cybersecurity, higher education, public administration, and logistics to overhaul an examination system that has been plagued by repeated paper leaks and integrity breaches. The announcement comes amid mounting public anger over the alleged NEET-UG 2026 paper leak, which led to nationwide protests and the resignation of the Union Education Minister.
What Is the National Testing Agency?
The National Testing Agency (NTA) is an autonomous body under the Department of Higher Education, Ministry of Education, established in November 2017 as a society registered under the Indian Societies Registration Act, 1860. It was created to conduct efficient, transparent, and standardized entrance examinations for admission and fellowship in higher educational institutions across India. Its headquarters are located in Okhla, New Delhi.
Before the NTA was created, major national-level exams such as JEE Main and NEET UG were conducted by the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE). However, the CBSE’s primary mandate is school education and curriculum. The government envisioned a specialist body whose sole mission would be to research and execute high-stakes entrance tests using modern assessment techniques and technology.
Over the years, the NTA has taken charge of conducting dozens of national-level examinations including JEE Main, NEET UG, CUET (Common University Entrance Test), UGC NET, CMAT, and GPAT, among others. In December 2024, the government decided that from 2025 onward, the NTA would focus only on entrance examinations for higher education and stop conducting recruitment tests, following recommendations from a high-level committee.
Why the NTA Needed an Overhaul
Since its inception, the NTA has been at the centre of multiple controversies that have eroded public trust in the examination system. A parliamentary panel found that at least five of the 14 major exams conducted by the NTA faced “major issues”. The problems have ranged across several areas.
The most damaging has been repeated paper leaks. In May 2024, the NEET UG examination faced allegations of a question paper leak, triggering nationwide protests, court hearings, and a CBI probe. The controversy deepened when 67 candidates scored a perfect 720 out of 720, raising questions about the award of grace marks. In June 2024, the UGC NET examination was cancelled after the government received inputs that the integrity of the exam had been compromised. More recently, the alleged NEET-UG 2026 paper leak affected approximately 2.3 million students and led to the exam’s cancellation and a nationwide re-examination.
Beyond paper leaks, the agency has struggled with technical failures including server crashes during online exams, errors in answer keys, and logistical mismanagement such as allocating test centres hundreds of kilometres away from candidates’ preferred locations. Experts have also pointed to an over-reliance on third-party vendors for sensitive tasks like question paper processing, translation, and exam centre management, with much of the work handled by contractual personnel rather than permanent government officials.
The Radhakrishnan Committee, formed after the 2024 controversies, highlighted these structural weaknesses and recommended a shift to a hybrid examination model, a permanent workforce, and the deployment of Aadhaar-based facial recognition and AI-enabled CCTV monitoring at test centres. Many of these recommendations remain unimplemented.
Who Is on the Task Force?
The task force is a carefully curated group of six experts, each bringing a distinct domain expertise to the table.
| Member | Background | Relevance to the Task Force |
|---|---|---|
| Nandan Nilekani (Chairperson) | Co-founder and Chairman of Infosys. Former Chairman of UIDAI where he led the creation of Aadhaar, the world’s largest biometric identity programme. Instrumental in building India’s UPI ecosystem. Recipient of the Padma Bhushan (2006). | Will bring large-scale technology architecture experience to design a secure, digital-first examination framework. |
| S Somanath | Former Chairman of ISRO (2022-2025) . Aerospace engineer with nearly 40 years of experience in launch vehicle systems engineering including PSLV and LVM3. | Will contribute systems engineering expertise to build a robust, fail-safe examination infrastructure. |
| V Kamakoti | Director of IIT Madras. Ph.D. in Computer Science and Engineering. Specializes in computer architecture, information security, and cybersecurity. | Will guide cybersecurity protocols and secure system design for the examination process. |
| Tapan Deka | Former Director of the Intelligence Bureau (IB) , India’s internal intelligence agency. | Will bring expertise in threat assessment, counter-intelligence, and securing sensitive processes against organized leak syndicates. |
| Anita Karwal | Retired 1988-batch Gujarat cadre IAS officer. Served as Union Education Secretary (2020-2022) and former Chairperson of CBSE. | Will provide deep institutional knowledge of the education system and administrative feasibility of reforms. |
| Amrit Lal Meena | Logistics and supply chain expert with experience in managing large-scale operations. | Will address the mammoth logistical challenge of conducting exams across thousands of centres nationwide. |
What the Task Force Must Deliver
The task force has been mandated to examine the entire NTA examination ecosystem and recommend structural, technological, and institutional reforms. The PM has outlined the goal as making the examination system “trustworthy, transparent, and tech-savvy”.
The key areas the task force is expected to address include strengthening the overall examination process through technology, improving cybersecurity frameworks to prevent data breaches and paper leaks, enhancing logistical planning for the smooth conduct of exams across thousands of centres, and restoring public confidence in the integrity of competitive examinations.
The recommendations are expected to cover the adoption of a hybrid examination model where question papers are delivered to centres via encrypted digital links just before the exam while students mark answers on OMR sheets, thus eliminating the physical transport of printed booklets. Other likely recommendations include the deployment of biometric verification using Aadhaar, AI-powered surveillance at test centres, randomized question banks from secure cloud servers, and multi-stage testing formats to reduce the scale of any single examination event.
The government has said it will work on the suggestions of the task force and implement them as soon as possible to establish a foolproof examination system.
Broader Steps to Protect Exam Integrity
The formation of the task force is part of a larger, three-pronged strategy by the government to tackle examination malpractices.
The first prong is legal deterrence. Parliament passed the Public Examinations (Prevention of Unfair Means) Act, 2024, which came into force to prevent unfair means in public examinations. The Act defines unfair means broadly, including unauthorized access to question papers, collusion, manipulation of answer sheets, and tampering with computer networks. Offences under this Act are cognizable, non-bailable, and non-compoundable. Individuals can face imprisonment of 3 to 10 years and fines, while organized paper-leak syndicates can be fined up to ₹1 crore.
The second prong is swift judicial action. The PM announced the establishment of dedicated fast-track courts to ensure quick trials and punishment for those involved in examination paper leaks. This is intended to act as a strong deterrent against future malpractice.
The third prong is the institutional and technological overhaul that the Nilekani-led task force is expected to recommend. Together, these three pillars of legal deterrence, swift judicial action, and technological overhaul are designed to create a comprehensive shield around the examination system.
The Way Forward
The task force’s composition signals the government’s intent to move beyond administrative patchwork and adopt a technology-first approach to examination reform. Panel members with backgrounds in building India’s digital public infrastructure, securing the country’s internal security, and managing large-scale engineering projects suggest that the recommendations will focus on systemic, long-term solutions rather than quick fixes.
For the recommendations to be effective, the government will need to address several structural challenges. These include reducing the NTA’s dependence on contractual staff and private exam centres, investing in permanent testing infrastructure such as government-owned national testing centres, and ensuring that technology solutions are accessible to students in rural and remote areas.
The task force is expected to submit its report within a defined timeline. Its recommendations, if implemented fully, could fundamentally reshape how more than a crore students appear for national-level entrance examinations every year.
Key Takeaways
- A six-member high-powered task force chaired by Nandan Nilekani has been formed to recommend reforms for NTA examinations.
- The National Testing Agency (NTA) was established in November 2017 under the Ministry of Education and is headquartered in Okhla, New Delhi.
- The task force includes S Somanath (former ISRO Chairman), V Kamakoti (IIT Madras Director), Tapan Deka (former IB Director), Anita Karwal (former Education Secretary), and Amrit Lal Meena (logistics expert).
- The Public Examinations (Prevention of Unfair Means) Act, 2024 makes exam offences cognizable, non-bailable, and non-compoundable, with imprisonment of up to 10 years and fines up to ₹1 crore.
- The government has also established fast-track courts to ensure swift punishment for individuals involved in paper leaks.
