Examination reforms: Nilekani panel considering question vault mechanism, digital delivery of paper at last minute to prevent leaks

The Nandan Nilekani-led High Powered Task Force (HPTF) on examination reforms is exploring several innovative proposals to curb paper leaks, including a question vault mechanism backed by advanced software, a pool of over one lakh vetted questions prepared throughout the year, and digital delivery of papers just minutes before an exam.

The task force is also considering "debundling" examination-related responsibilities to prevent a single service provider from inadvertently facilitating leaks. Nilekani believes that generating the paper at the last minute is a viable solution, stating, "Why do we need to have something called 'A' question paper? Because the moment you have 'A' question paper, that creates an economic incentive for that to be sold or whatever.

So the way to do that is to have a massive bank of question papers and only at the last minute generate the question paper for that day." This proposed mechanism is already being employed by the Staff Selection Commission (SSC), which conducts over a dozen computer-based tests annually at more than 200 centers across the country.

The SSC Chairman, S Gopalakrishnan, explained that the question vault would consist of questions vetted, verified, translated into required languages, and securely stored. A senior government official highlighted the potential vulnerability of translation, citing past instances where translators acquired access to entire question papers, leading to leaks.

The HPTF has conducted over 58 meetings in the last two months, and is expected to submit its final report by the end of October.