'Why do we need a question paper': Infosys co-founder Nandan Nilekani on ways to combat exam leaks in India

Infosys co-founder Nandan Nilekani on Tuesday suggested doing away with setting traditional question papers for exams in India. The tech leader who heads the high-powered task force (HPTF) to suggest exam reforms in India recommended creating a massive bank of questions instead and generate the question paper for the day at the last minute.

“Why do we need to have a question paper,” Nilekani asked at Bloomberg’s New Economy Forum in Delhi. “The moment you have a question paper, it becomes an economic incentive for that to be sold," he said.

His remarks come months after the NEET-UG exam paper was leaked, leading to the cancellation of the May 3 exam this year, a move that impacted lakhs of medical aspirants and triggered widespread student protests.

The protests culminated in the resignation of Dharmendra Pradhan as education minister.

‘PM Modi very keen on implementing suggestions’

Nilekani, who recommends building a vast digital bank of questions and using technology to generate papers not so long before any exam, said that Prime Minister Narendra Modi was very keen on implementing his suggestions.

He also said that India has about 150,000 locations that could potentially support a computer-based testing system.

“The other thing is, of course, how to make sure all exams are done on a computer-based testing, and that requires a network of locations. We have 150,000 locations where a young boy or girl can take a test. That needs to be expanded. I think these are all systemic issues which we will address in our committee,” he said.

The high-powered panel that Nilekani heads was constituted by the government on July 27, after weeks of protests by students against exam paper leaks. As stated in an earlier HT report, the committee has been tasked with examining comprehensive reforms in the conduct, security, design and governance of public examinations, including those conducted by the National Testing Agency (NTA).

In August, Nilekani invited suggestions from students, parents, teachers, academic institutions and other stakeholders on exam system reforms.

Also Read: Tale of two teachers who blew the lid off NEET paper leak

‘Hogwash’: Nilekani on will AI eliminate jobs

During the same Bloomberg interaction, the Infosys co-founder also dismissed fears of Artificial Intelligence eliminating jobs as “hogwash”.

“Business transformation is not just about coding,” Nilekani said. “Seventy percent is governance, change management, transformation, guardrails. How do you make sure AI bots don’t hallucinate? How do you make sure agents don’t go rogue," he asked.

According to a Bloomberg report, Nilekani said that AI will galvanize small businesses and fuel demand for new skills.