Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday announced that the Union government has constituted a “high-powered task force” under the leadership of Infosys co-founder Nandan Nilekani to look into examination reforms.
“Based on its report, steps will be taken to ensure the credibility of upcoming examinations at the earliest,” said the prime minister in a video posted on social media.
The announcement came a day after Dharmendra Pradhan resigned as the Union education minister following weeks-long protests that spread across the country.
Pradhan’s resignation was the core demand of protesters led by the Cockroach Janta Party political campaign. The protesters had been calling on him to quit on account of alleged mismanagement of a series of competitive examinations.
On Sunday, the prime minister said that the Union government will also move “towards making a new law with tough provisions” in Parliament on Monday.
He was referring to the 2026 Public Examinations Prevention of Unfair Means Amendment Bill. The legislation proposes imprisonment of five to ten years for individuals found using unfair means in public examinations. The maximum fine for such persons would increase from Rs 10 lakh to Rs 50 lakh.
The bill says that investigations into the cases should be completed within two months and that a Special Task Force should be established to probe serious offences related to public examinations.
It also increases the minimum punishment for organised exam-related offences from five years to seven years in prison, and raises the minimum fine from Rs 1 crore to Rs 10 crore.
Youth protests against exam irregularities
The youth protests began on June 6, when the Cockroach Janta Party political campaign started its demonstration at Jantar Mantar to demand Pradhan’s resignation.
On July 19, thousands joined the protest in Delhi after the police forcibly shifted activist Sonam Wangchuk, who had been on a hunger strike, to hospital.
A march to Parliament on July 20 was met with heavy police action. Dozens of protesters were injured in lathi charges and had to brave tear gas. The police action widened the support for the agitation, which soon spread to other cities.
After Pradhan resigned on Saturday, the Cockroach Janta Party called off its protest at Jantar Mantar, stating that “all demands have been accepted” following talks with the Union government.
Edited by Sneha.
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