Seeking to strengthen the credibility of public examinations, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday announced a high-powered task force that will recommend reforms to make the examination system more reliable and transparent.
The high-powered task force brings together experts from technology, space, education, security and public administration. Chaired by Infosys co-founder Nandan Nilekani, the panel includes former ISRO chief S Somanath, former Intelligence Bureau director Tapan Deka, IIT Madras Director V Kamakoti, former Education Secretary Anita Karwal and senior IAS officer Amrit Lal Meena, each bringing domain expertise to the exercise of overhauling India's examination system.
Here is a list of the members in the high-powered task force:
Nandan Nilekani
Nandan Nilekani is the co-founder of Infosys and one of India's most influential technology entrepreneurs. Nilekani headed the Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) as its founding chairman from 2009 to 2014, leading the rollout of Aadhaar, during the then Congress-led UPA government.
His work has focused on building digital public infrastructure, financial inclusion and technology-driven governance. Nilekani has also served on several government and industry panels on innovation, digital transformation and public policy.
S Somanath
A distinguished aerospace engineer, S Somanath led the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) from 2022 to 2025. He oversaw landmark missions including Chandrayaan-3's successful Moon landing and the Aditya-L1 solar mission, while also advancing India's commercial and private space ecosystem.
He has also headed the Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre and the Liquid Propulsion Systems Centre, contributing significantly to the development of the PSLV, GSLV and LVM3 launch vehicles.
Tapan Deka
Tapan Deka is a retired Indian Police Service officer from the Assam-Meghalaya cadre who served as Director of the Intelligence Bureau. During a career spanning nearly four decades, he specialised in counter-terrorism, internal security and intelligence gathering, with experience in tackling insurgency and organised security threats.
His expertise in risk assessment, surveillance and institutional security has made him one of India's most experienced intelligence professionals.
V Kamakoti
V Kamakoti is the Director of IIT Madras and a noted computer scientist whose research spans computer architecture, cybersecurity, embedded systems and artificial intelligence. A long-time faculty member at IIT Madras, he has worked extensively on indigenous processor technologies and secure computing.
Anita Karwal
Anita Karwal is a retired IAS officer of the Gujarat cadre with extensive experience in school education and public administration. She served as Secretary in the Department of School Education and Literacy after heading the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE). Over her career, she has been associated with reforms in school governance, examination systems, teacher development and learning outcomes.
Amrit Lal Meena
Amrit Lal Meena is a senior IAS officer of the Bihar cadre who has held several key administrative positions at both the Centre and the state level. His assignments have included serving as Bihar's Chief Secretary and as Secretary in the Ministry of Coal, where he oversaw large-scale administrative and infrastructure initiatives. His experience spans governance, logistics, project execution and inter-departmental coordination across complex government programmes.