Who is Nandan Nilekani? PM Modi picks Infosys co-founder, IIT alumnus to spearhead exam reforms

A day after former education minister Dharmendra Pradhan resigned following massive protests against education reforms, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday announced the formation of an “executive task force” headed by Infosys co-founder and Aadhaar architect Nandan Nilekani to recommend comprehensive reforms to the examination system. The panel will focus on making competitive exams more transparent, technology-enabled and reliable.

The announcement comes as the center steps up efforts to improve the integrity of recruitment and entrance exams following concerns about paper leaks and examination malpractices. A reshuffle in the Education Ministry also followed, with Union Minister Prahlad Joshi taking additional charge as Education Minister.

Speaking at a meeting on examination reforms, the Prime Minister said the government had already taken strict action against those accused of endangering the future of students and was working to further strengthen the legal framework governing examinations.

“The Government of India keeps taking various measures for the future of the students. Those who tampered with the future of the students are languishing in jail. We have already set up fast track courts. We are also moving towards enacting new legislation in the parliament which includes strict legal provisions.”

“However, we must look to the future. Our investigation system must be reliable and transparent and must make maximum use of technology. Keeping all these factors in mind, we have decided to form a high-powered task force under the leadership of world-renowned technology expert Nandan Nilekani. This task force will focus on exam reforms and based on its report, steps will be taken to ensure the credibility of the upcoming exams as soon as possible.”

Who is Nandan Nilekani?

Nandan Nilekani is widely regarded as one of India’s leading technology entrepreneurs. He co-founded Infosys and later became the founding chairman of the Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI), the government agency that launched Aadhaar, the world’s largest biometric identity program.

Nilekani was born in Bengaluru in 1955 and graduated in electrical engineering from the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) in Mumbai. He started his professional career at Patni Computer Systems where he first met NR Narayana Murthy.

In 1981, Nilekani teamed up with Murthy and five others to found Infosys. The company has grown into one of India’s largest IT services firms with a strong global presence. From 2002 to 2007, he served as the company’s CEO and then assumed the position of co-chairman.

He retired from Infosys in 2009 after being appointed as the founder chairman of UIDAI by the then United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government.

During his tenure, Nilekani oversaw the rollout of India’s digital identity program Aadhaar, which aims to provide a unique biometric identification number to every resident. Aadhaar has since become a key part of the country’s digital public infrastructure, supporting social programs, banking services, taxes, digital payments and identity verification.

His contribution to building India’s digital public infrastructure has been widely recognized in India and internationally.

Nilekani returned to Infosys in 2017 as its non-executive chairman.