Exam reform panel announced by PM to divert attention: Congress

A fresh political battle has erupted over the government’s latest move to reform the examination system, with the Congress launching a sharp attack on the Narendra Modi government and accusing it of using committees as a means to shift public attention away from unresolved concerns surrounding competitive examinations.

The Opposition party on Monday questioned the announcement of a new high-powered task force on exam reforms, alleging that the government had yet to fully implement the recommendations of an earlier expert panel formed after controversies surrounding major examinations, including the NEET-UG.

Congress general secretary Jairam Ramesh targeted the government through a series of posts on social media platform X, sharing two video clips — one featuring then education minister Dharmendra Pradhan announcing the formation of a high-level committee in 2024 to ensure transparent, smooth and fair examinations, and another showing Prime Minister Narendra Modi announcing the creation of a new task force for examination reforms.

Taking a sarcastic swipe, Ramesh described the earlier announcement as "high-level hawabaazi" and the latest move as "high-powered jumlebaazi". In a post in Hindi, he wrote, “Committee banao, dhyaan bhatkao” (Form a committee and divert attention), questioning the government’s approach to tackling examination-related challenges.

Ramesh alleged that despite the formation of the K. Radhakrishnan Committee in 2024, the government had not completed the implementation of its 101 recommendations. He claimed that the latest committee announcement came after repeated controversies surrounding examinations and accused the government of failing to address systemic issues within the National Testing Agency (NTA).

According to Ramesh, the government had spent a significant period without appointing a full-time director general for the NTA, even as concerns over examination integrity continued. He alleged that the latest initiative was aimed at repairing the government’s image rather than bringing meaningful change.

The Centre, however, has defended the move as a comprehensive effort to strengthen India’s examination ecosystem. Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday announced the formation of a high-powered task force headed by Infosys co-founder Nandan Nilekani, stating that the panel would recommend measures to create a more secure, transparent and technology-driven examination framework.

The task force will focus on the increased use of technology, improving examination infrastructure and introducing structural reforms to make the testing process more reliable, according to the government.

The multidisciplinary panel includes several prominent experts, including 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.

The prime minister said the recommendations of the task force would be used to build a more robust and foolproof examination system, with special attention to strengthening NTA’s functioning and preventing future disruptions.

The announcement comes against the backdrop of sustained debate over examination reforms, following allegations and controversies surrounding competitive tests. The government has maintained that strengthening transparency, technology and accountability remains a priority, while the opposition continues to demand greater responsibility and faster implementation of corrective measures.

As the Centre moves ahead with its new reform blueprint, the debate over examination credibility, institutional accountability and the future of India’s competitive testing system continues to remain at the centre of the political discourse.

With PTI inputs