New Delhi, 06 August (H.S.): Congress General Secretary Jairam Ramesh on Thursday accused the Central Government of lacking seriousness in reforming the examination system in the wake of the National Eligibility-cum-Entrance Test (NEET-UG) paper leak controversy. He alleged that after failing to implement the recommendations of the K. Radhakrishnan Committee constituted in 2024, the newly formed task force headed by Nandan Nilekani is merely an attempt to protect the government's image.

In a post on social media platform X, Ramesh said that following the NEET-UG paper leak in 2024, the Centre had constituted a high-level expert committee under the chairmanship of K. Radhakrishnan to recommend reforms in the examination system.

He said that after another alleged NEET-UG paper leak in 2026, the government constituted a fresh high-level task force under the leadership of Nandan Nilekani.

Ramesh claimed that seven of the nine terms of reference assigned to the Nilekani Task Force had already been comprehensively addressed by the Radhakrishnan Committee, while the remaining two had also been examined partially.

He further alleged that the Central Government has so far failed to implement even 27 of the 101 recommendations made by the Radhakrishnan Committee. He also claimed that between the alleged paper leaks of 2024 and 2026, the National Testing Agency (NTA) functioned for two years without a full-time Director General.

According to Ramesh, these developments demonstrate that the government neither showed the political will nor the seriousness required to implement the Radhakrishnan Committee's recommendations.

He alleged that the newly constituted task force under Nandan Nilekani is merely a damage control exercise aimed at safeguarding the image of the Prime Minister.

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Hindusthan Samachar / Jun Sarkar