• Source:JND

Aadhaar Architect Nandan Nilekani: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday announced the formation of a high-powered task force headed by Infosys co-founder and Aadhaar architect Nandan Nilekani to recommend sweeping reforms to India's examination system, with a focus on making competitive exams more transparent, technology-driven and reliable.

The announcement comes amid the government's renewed push to strengthen examination processes after concerns over paper leaks and malpractice in recruitment and entrance examinations. It also follows a change at the helm of the Education Ministry, with Union Minister Prahlad Joshi taking additional charge after Dharmendra Pradhan stepped down.

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Nandan Nilekani's Educational Qualification:

Nandan Nilekani was born in Bengaluru in 1955. He graduated in electrical engineering from the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Bombay, laying the technical foundation that would later shape his career in building large-scale digital infrastructure and technology-driven public systems.

Nandan Nilekani's Career Journey:

After graduating from IIT Bombay, Nilekani joined Patni Computer Systems, where he met N.R. Narayana Murthy. In 1981, the duo, along with five others, founded Infosys, which went on to become one of India's largest IT services companies and a global technology giant. Nilekani served as the company's Chief Executive Officer between 2002 and 2007 before becoming its Co-Chairman.

In 2009, he left Infosys after being appointed founding chairman of the Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) by the then UPA government. He led the rollout of Aadhaar, India's ambitious digital identity programme aimed at providing every resident with a unique biometric identity number, which has since become the backbone of several government welfare schemes, digital payments, banking, taxation and identity verification services.

Nilekani returned to Infosys in 2017 as the company's Non-Executive Chairman, helping steer the firm through a period of leadership transition and corporate governance challenges.

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Why Has PM Modi Chosen Him?

Although the government has not released detailed terms of reference for the task force, PM Modi indicated that technology would play a central role in future examination reforms, with the panel focusing on making India's examination system more transparent, credible and technology-enabled.

Nilekani's experience in building digital infrastructure at a national scale is widely seen as one of the key reasons behind his appointment, given how Aadhaar demonstrated secure technology deployment for identity verification across hundreds of millions of users.

Renewed Focus On Examination Reforms

The announcement comes as the government seeks to reinforce public confidence in competitive examinations. PM Modi said people responsible for compromising students' futures had already been sent to jail and that the Centre was moving ahead with tougher legal provisions to deal with examination-related offences.

He also said Parliament would take up stronger legislative measures, emphasising that preventing future irregularities remained the government's priority, adding that the task force's report would help ensure the credibility of upcoming examinations at the earliest.

 

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