Paper leaks: PM announces high-powered exam reforms task force
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New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday announced a high-powered task force headed by Infosys co-founder Nandan Nilekani to reform the country's public examination system, a day after Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan resigned following the 36-day Cockroach Janta Party (CJP)-led agitation over alleged examination irregularities, according to a Scroll story.
The panel will recommend measures to restore the credibility of competitive examinations, with the Centre promising to implement its suggestions at the earliest. The government will also introduce the 2026 Public Examinations Prevention of Unfair Means Amendment Bill in Parliament, proposing five to ten years' imprisonment and a maximum fine of Rs 50 lakh for using unfair means. The Bill mandates completion of investigations within two months, creates a Special Task Force for serious examination offences, and raises the minimum punishment for organised exam-related crimes to seven years' imprisonment and Rs 10 crore fine.
Besides Nilekani, the panel includes former ISRO chairman S. Somanath, former Intelligence Bureau director Tapan Deka, IIT Chennai director V. Kamakoti, former education secretary Anita Karwal and logistics expert Amrit Lal Meena.
The CJP launched its protest at Jantar Mantar on June 6 demanding Pradhan's resignation. The agitation gained momentum after activist Sonam Wangchuk was hospitalised during a hunger strike and police used lathi charges and tear gas against protesters marching to Parliament. The protest ended after Pradhan's resignation, with the CJP saying its demands had been accepted following talks with the Union government.
Meanwhile, Rajya Sabha MP Kapil Sibal slammed the Centre over the paper leak issue. He said that the Modi government first doesn’t acknowledge a problem, calls protesters anarchists and lathi-charges them and then sets a task force for exam reforms.