Congress general secretary Jairam Ramesh on Sunday questioned the rationale of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's announcement of a new high-powered task force on examination reforms, arguing that the Centre has yet to implement recommendations made by a committee set up after the 2024 NEET paper leak controversy. Modi's announcement came a day after Dharmendra Pradhan resigned as education minister amid massive GenZ-led protests spurred by the Cockroach Janta Party.
Reacting to the PM's post announcing that a task force headed by Nandan Nilekani had been constituted, Ramesh drew parallels between the government's response to the 2024 and 2026 exam controversies.
‘Friends…’: What Jairam Ramesh said
Referring to the committee led by former ISRO chief Dr K Radhakrishnan, which was constituted after the 2024 NEET-UG controversy, Ramesh chose to open his post with the word “friends”, which PM Modi has been using lately as an attempt to connect with a younger demographic.
“Friends, in June 2024, after it bungled multiple examinations including NEET-UG, the Modi Government constituted a High-Level Committee of Experts headed by Dr. K Radhakrishnan to 'ensure transparent, smooth and fair conduct of examinations,” Jairam Ramesh reminded.
He said that two years later, the government had responded to another examination crisis by announcing a fresh panel.
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{{/usCountry}}Also read | Who's on PM Modi's task force for exam reforms? Here's what we know
{{/usCountry}}"In July 2026, after the Modi Government has yet again bungled the NEET-UG and other examinations, it has constituted a 'High Powered Task Force' to focus on examination reform," he said.
The Congress comms chief further claimed that the recommendations of the earlier committee remain largely unimplemented.
"The Modi Government has still not finished implementing the K Radhakrishnan Committee's 101 recommendations. Indeed, for most of the two years between the 2024 and 2026 paper leaks, it didn't even appoint a full-time Director General for the National Testing Agency."
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Taking a swipe at the latest announcement, Ramesh alleged that the move was aimed at repairing the image of “Pradhan Mantri”.
"This is ultimately only a High-Powered attempt to fix the Pradhan Mantri's irretrievably compromised image," he said.
PM Modi announces task force
Earlier in the evening, PM Narendra Modi announced setting up of a high powered task force under Nandan Nilekani that will prepare a report on examination reforms.
The announcement comes a day before the Union government will move a bill in Parliament to implement harsher punishment and heavier penalty of up to ₹10 core for those convicted of paper leaks.