It Is The Reforms That Matter, Not Committees

Appointment of commissions of inquiry is often an attempt to douse public anger and resentment. More often than not, they are forgotten once the subject ceases to engage public attention. When their reports are finally submitted, they make headlines for a few days before disappearing from public memory.

Thereafter, they gather dust in government almirahs, to be occasionally dusted off and referred to by a subsequent committee. The controversy over the National Eligibility-cum-Entrance Test (NEET) and the National Testing Agency (NTA) illustrates the danger of this familiar pattern.

Following the leakage of the NEET question paper and cancellation of the examination, the government faced widespread criticism. The protests at Jantar Mantar, the high-handedness of the police, and the eventual resignation of the Education Minister are too recent to require recapitulation.

NTA's failure exposed

What the episode exposed was the failure of the NTA to live up to the enormous responsibility entrusted to it. The NEET controversy was not an isolated lapse. A series of incidents had already raised serious questions about the agency’s competence and credibility.

It was in these circumstances that a committee headed by Nandan Nilekani was appointed to suggest measures to revamp the NTA. As the person who led the effort to create Aadhaar, he has demonstrated his ability to build and manage a gigantic technology-driven public system.

Yet, the composition of the committee did not inspire universal confidence. Inevitably, this created the suspicion that it was less an instrument of reform than a face-saving device.

Court seeks concrete reforms

The Supreme Court has now made it clear that the government cannot keep responding to every examination scandal by appointing another committee. Hearing petitions concerning irregularities in NEET-UG, a Bench of Justices PS Narasimha and Alok Aradhe warned against such “committee-hopping” and asked the Centre to provide a concrete timeline for implementing reforms.

The court has also directed the Nilekani task force to incorporate and refine the 101 recommendations of the earlier committee headed by former ISRO chief K. Radhakrishnan. This is important. Institutional reform requires institutional memory.

Every new committee cannot be permitted to start from scratch, as though previous investigations and recommendations never existed. The Supreme Court’s reference to the UPSC as a model is particularly relevant.

Technology cannot replace reform

The government has announced several measures, including removing 600 subject experts from the examination process, introducing a four-tier scrutiny mechanism for question papers, strengthening security at its new headquarters, and appointing chief technology and financial officers.

AI and blockchain are also being explored. These steps may help. But technology cannot compensate for institutional weakness. The real test is whether the NTA can become a permanent, professional, and trusted examination institution. If another committee is appointed after the next scandal, it will only confirm that committees have become a substitute for reform.

Published on: Thursday, August 20, 2026, 09:38 PM IST