PM Modi names Nandan Nilekani to lead overhaul of India’s exam system
A high-powered task force has been constituted to recommend structural reforms to India's national-level public examination system, chaired by Nandan Nilekani, co-founder of Infosys and former Chairman of the Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI).
The panel's mandate covers examinations conducted at the national level, including those run by the National Testing Agency (NTA) such as JEE Main, NEET-UG and UGC-NET.
The move follows sustained concern over examination integrity after repeated paper-leak and conduct-related incidents affecting national testing bodies.
The task force is expected to submit recommendations that will guide administrative and technological changes to examination delivery.
Constitutional Division of Power Over Education
Education in India is legislated under a shared Centre-State framework, which shapes how a national panel's recommendations on examination reform can be implemented across states and institutions.
Key Details
- Education was originally a State subject; the 42nd Constitutional Amendment Act, 1976 moved it to the Concurrent List (List III) as Entry 25, allowing both Parliament and state legislatures to legislate on it, subject to Union law prevailing in case of conflict.
- Entry 66 of the Union List (List I) separately reserves for Parliament the power to lay down standards in institutions for higher education and research, and coordination of such standards — the constitutional basis for Centre-run bodies like the UGC and NTA to set uniform admission and eligibility standards nationwide.
- Article 21A, inserted by the 86th Constitutional Amendment Act, 2002, makes free and compulsory education a fundamental right for children aged 6 to 14, operationalised through the Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education Act, 2009.
A national task force reforming examinations conducted for entry into centrally-recognised institutions draws its constitutional legitimacy from Entry 66's standard-setting power, distinct from the general Concurrent List authority over school-level education.
National Education Policy (NEP) 2020 and Assessment Reform
NEP 2020, India's third national education policy after 1968 and 1986, explicitly targets the reduction of high-stakes, rote-based examination pressure and proposes restructuring assessment across school and higher education.
Key Details
- Approved by the Union Cabinet in July 2020, NEP 2020 replaced the 1986 policy (as modified in 1992) and envisages restructuring school education into a 5+3+3+4 curricular structure.
- It calls for board examinations to test core competencies rather than memorisation, recommends they be made "low-stakes" and allows students to attempt them more than once in an academic year.
- It also proposed a National Assessment Centre ("PARAKH") to set standards for student assessment and recommended NTA offer high-quality aptitude and subject tests to reduce dependence on coaching.
The current task force's mandate — restoring credibility and reducing malpractice in high-stakes national exams — extends the assessment-reform direction NEP 2020 had already set out, applied specifically to entrance and recruitment examinations.
University Grants Commission (UGC) and the Regulatory Architecture for Higher Education
The UGC is the primary statutory regulator for university-level higher education and coexists with newer bodies such as the NTA, which conducts examinations on the UGC's behalf without displacing its regulatory authority.
Key Details
- The UGC was established under the University Grants Commission Act, 1956, empowered to coordinate, determine and maintain standards in universities and to disburse grants.
- The UGC sets eligibility criteria for the National Eligibility Test (NET) for teaching and research posts, while the NTA — a society registered under the Societies Registration Act, 1860, functioning under the Ministry of Education — conducts the examination itself.
- The Higher Education Commission of India Bill, proposed under NEP 2020, envisages eventually replacing the UGC and AICTE with a single higher-education regulator, though this has not yet been enacted.
A task force reforming exam delivery operates alongside, not in place of, this existing regulatory structure — its recommendations are expected to reshape the conduct of examinations while leaving standard-setting bodies like the UGC in place.
- 86th Constitutional Amendment Act, 2002: inserted Article 21A (Right to Education), operationalised via the RTE Act, 2009.
- 42nd Constitutional Amendment Act, 1976: moved education from the State List to the Concurrent List (Entry 25); Entry 66 of the Union List separately covers standards in higher education.
- NEP 2020: approved by the Union Cabinet in July 2020; proposes a National Assessment Centre (PARAKH) and low-stakes, competency-based board examinations.
- UGC established under the UGC Act, 1956; NTA established in November 2017 as a society under the Ministry of Education, conducting exams such as JEE Main, NEET-UG, UGC-NET and CUET.