How Can NEET Paper Leaks Be Stopped? IIT Madras Director Identifies Biggest Challenge

A day after the Centre constituted a high-level task force to reform India's examination system, IIT Madras Director V Kamakoti, a member of the panel, said the biggest challenge in preventing paper leaks is ensuring the integrity and credibility of question paper setters.

On Sunday, Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced the formation of a six-member expert task force, headed by Infosys co-founder Nandan Nilekani, to recommend measures for making the country's examination system secure, transparent and leak-proof.

Addressing reporters in Chennai, Padma Shri awardee Kamakoti said the rapid increase in the number of students appearing for public examinations over the past four decades has made technological intervention increasingly important.

He said every examination system rests on two key pillars: the question paper setters and the invigilators at examination centres.

ALSO READ: Moral Responsibility And Political Messaging: Why Dharmendra Pradhan's Resignation Is More Than Just A Demand Fulfilled

"In any examination system, two groups must be trusted. The first group is the question paper setters, who are the most important. The second group is the invigilators posted at the examination centres. In my opinion, the biggest challenge is how we build and maintain trust among the question paper setters," Kamakoti said

Kamakoti noted that while technology has strengthened monitoring at examination centres, the core issue still lies in ensuring the credibility of those preparing the question papers.

"We need teachers we can trust, people who will set the question papers, maintain complete confidentiality, and honestly discharge their responsibility without revealing their contents. This is the biggest challenge we face," he added.

Task Force Formed After NEET Protest Ends

The task force was announced a day after the 36-day-long agitation led by the Cockroach Janata Party (CJP) over the NEET-UG 2026 paper leak concluded with the resignation of Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan.

Kamakoti said the multidisciplinary panel has been entrusted with overhauling the examination system conducted by the National Testing Agency (NTA).

"As a committee, I believe our responsibility is to fulfil the mandate of creating a completely transparent, robust, leak-proof, and technology-driven examination system that can function effectively on such a large scale. This is the true meaning of structural reform."

How The 2024 And 2026 NEET Paper Leaks Differed

Explaining the difference between the two incidents, Kamakoti said the 2024 NEET paper leak occurred while question papers were being transported after printing.

"If you look at NEET 2024, the leak occurred while the question papers were in transit after being printed. They were packed in boxes and sent to distribution centres and then transported to exam centres. The leak occurred somewhere during that process. The investigating agency clarified that the incident was limited and affected only 40 to 50 students," he said.

However, he said the 2026 leak followed a different pattern.

"The paper was leaked again in 2026. But this time it did not happen during the distribution process, which was the reason for the leak in 2024. This time there was no leak during the entire process of taking the question papers out of the NTA premises, printing them, packing them in boxes, and delivering them to the students at the examination centre on the day of the examination. According to the reports of the investigating agencies, this time the leak started from the level of the question paper setters themselves," Kamakoti said.

ALSO READ: 'Will Be Forced To Sit...': CJP Warns Of Fresh Protests In 24 Hours If FIRs Against Protesters Are Not Withdrawn

Can AI Prepare Question Papers?

Responding to a question on whether Artificial Intelligence (AI) could be used to prepare question papers, Kamakoti said AI could assist but could not replace human oversight. "I don't think AI can prepare question papers independently. AI can generate questions, but still someone will have to review them," Kamakoti said.

He added that AI could also support translation work for multilingual examinations like NEET, but final verification would still require human intervention. "The NEET exam is very inclusive in that it is conducted in 12 languages, so someone has to check the translations as well. AI can definitely help with translation, but someone has to closely check those translations."