Restoring trust in merit: Nandan Nilekani’s new assignment marks a distinct shift

When Prime Minister Narendra Modi appointed Nandan Nilekani to lead a high-powered task force on public examination reforms, the choice reflected more than confidence in one of India’s most accomplished technologists. It signalled the government’s belief that the country’s next wave of institutional reform may require the same systems thinking that transformed digital identity and payments over the past decade.