NEW DELHI: The Central government has extended the tenure of the Nandan Nilekani-led task force constituted for examination reforms after the NEET UG 2026 paper leak till January 2027, media reports said.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced the constitution of the high-powered six-member committee a day after Dharmendra Pradhan’s resignation as the Union education minister following massive student protests at Delhi’s Jantar Mantar over the irregularities associated with the NEET UG in July this year.
The task force has received over 50,000 suggestions from students, parents, teachers, academic institutions, subject matter experts, industry organisations and exam-conducting bodies.
“The stakeholder consultations is underway. The government has also submitted an affidavit in the Supreme Court listing the progress made by the panel so far. The panel has now been granted time till January 2027 to submit its report,” sources said.
The panel has also consulted former ISRO chairman K Radhakrishnan, who headed a panel set up by the Centre following the NEET paper leak in 2024.
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The Radhakrishnan Committee, which was set up in June 2024, submitted its recommendations in October that year. The Centre then set up another panel called the High Powered Steering Committee (HPSC), also headed by Radhakrishnan, to monitor implementation of the recommendations.
The Ministry of Education was in the process of implementing those suggestions when another paper leak for the medical entrance NEET this year led to a huge controversy, leading to widespread protests and Pradhan’s resignation.
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Besides Nilekani, other members of the task force are former chairman of ISRO S Somanath, former director of the Intelligence Bureau Tapan Deka, IIT Chennai Director V Kamakoti, former education secretary Anita Karwal and logistics expert Amrit Lal Meena.
Following the paper leak, the Centre announced that NEET will be conducted as a Computer Based Test (CBT) from next year.