Technology is Non-Negotiable: IIT Madras chief on PM's NTA reform task force

IIT Madras Director V Kamakoti outlined the PM task force's early focus for overhauling national examinations and strengthening the NTA. He said technology, stronger verification and trusted question-setting systems would be central to restoring confidence.IIT Madras Director Dr V Kamakoti, who has been appointed to Prime Minister Narendra Modi's high-powered task force on examination reforms, spoke with India Today in an exclusive conversation, sharing his views on the responsibility entrusted to him and the committee's vision for strengthening the National Testing Agency (NTA).Expressing confidence in the government's initiative, Dr. Kamakoti said the committee has been constituted to recommend key reforms in India's examination system at a time when the number of students appearing for national-level entrance examinations has grown exponentially."When I appeared for the JEE in 1985, around 5,000 students took the exam. Today, nearly 1.5 million students appear for it. With India's Gross Enrolment Ratio in higher education rising to around 30%, our examination system has to scale up significantly. Such large-scale examinations cannot be conducted efficiently without technology," he said.The expert panel includes technology leader Nandan Nilekani, former ISRO Chairman Dr. S. Somanath, former Intelligence Bureau Director Tapan Deka, former Education Secretary Anita Karwal, logistics expert Amritlal Meena, and Dr. Kamakoti. According to Dr. Kamakoti, the committee will focus on two major areas: integrating technology to make examinations transparent and leak-proof, and strengthening accountability by introducing robust verification processes similar to the "maker-checker" model used in the banking sector.Highlighting the expertise of the panel members, he said Nandan Nilekani would contribute his experience in large-scale technology deployment, while Dr. Somanath would help improve operational precision. Tapan Deka would focus on examination security, Anita Karwal would guide policy and regulatory aspects, and Amritlal Meena would assist with logistics.On IIT Madras' role in the reforms, Dr Kamakoti said the committee was still in its initial stages and had not yet held its first meeting. However, he stressed that technology would be central to restoring confidence in the examination system.He cited IIT Madras' successful support for CBSE's online re-evaluation portal, which handled around 1.7 lakh applications transparently.Discussing the challenge of preventing examination leaks, Dr. Kamakoti said the greatest vulnerability lies in the "root of trust"—the question paper setters themselves."If the question paper setter leaks the paper, the entire system is compromised. Building a trusted mechanism for question generation and identifying trustworthy paper setters will be one of the committee's biggest challenges," he said.The committee is expected to hold its initial meetings in the coming weeks and submit recommendations aimed at making India's national examination system more secure, transparent, and technology-driven.- EndsPublished By: Rishab ChauhanPublished On: Jul 27, 2026 00:26 IST