Entrepreneur and Infosys co-founder Nandan Nilekani has suggested creating "massive question banks" to curb exam paper leaks. He was speaking at the Bloomberg New Economy Forum 2026. Questioning the need for traditional question papers, Nilekani suggested that the country needs to do away with question papers to combat leaks that have disrupted high-stakes exams taken by millions of students and job seekers. "If you start with a user in mind, technology is scalable," said Nilekani, who heads the high-powered task force on examination reforms for National Testing Agency (NTA).
Nilekani suggested setting question papers on the day of the exam to check paper leak. “Why do we need to have a question paper?” Nilekani said. “The moment you have a question paper, it becomes an economic incentive for that to be sold,” he added. He further recommended building a vast digital bank of questions and using technology to generate papers shortly before an exam, reducing opportunities for leaks.
Advocating the use of technology, including expanding computer-based testing to address such issues in the exam process, the entrepreneur noted that India has about 150,000 locations that could potentially support a computer-based testing system.
Nilekani also highlighted that the Prime Minister is keen to implement the suggestions recommended by the team, noting that the report on exam paper leaks is due on October 28. “The prime minister is very keen to implement our suggestions,” he said.
The Centre had constituted the task force under Nilekani to examine and recommend comprehensive reforms relating to the conduct, security, design, and governance of public examinations.
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Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who addressed the event earlier, said India has chosen the path of empowering humanity.
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Global leaders across business, government, and innovation met in New Delhi for Bloomberg New Economy Forum 2026. The three-day programme is being joined by senior government representatives from Australia, Canada, Italy, Qatar, Singapore, Switzerland, and the United States, amongst others.
