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Correspondent

23 August 2024 at 4:29:04 pm

Trust Reset

As the recent protests over the NEET paper leak showed, India’s examination system has reached a point where incremental repairs are no longer enough. The appointment of a high-powered task force on examination reforms, headed by technology pioneer Nandan Nilekani, is therefore not merely an administrative response to the NEET-UG paper leak crisis but a concrete attempt to rebuild confidence in one of the country’s most important public institutions. Examinations are gateways to opportunity,...

Trust Reset

As the recent protests over the NEET paper leak showed, India’s examination system has reached a point where incremental repairs are no longer enough. The appointment of a high-powered task force on examination reforms, headed by technology pioneer Nandan Nilekani, is therefore not merely an administrative response to the NEET-UG paper leak crisis but a concrete attempt to rebuild confidence in one of the country’s most important public institutions. Examinations are gateways to opportunity, social mobility and professional ambition. For millions of students across the country, a competitive examination represents years of sacrifice by families and the possibility of a better future. When question papers leak repeatedly, evaluation systems fail or allegations of manipulation emerge, the resulting damage strikes at the idea of fairness itself. The crisis surrounding NEET-UG exposed uncomfortable vulnerabilities in the country’s examination infrastructure. The resignation of Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan and the subsequent appointment of Pralhad Joshi with additional charge of the ministry underlined the political seriousness of the issue. But political accountability alone cannot fix a structural problem. That is why the composition of the new task force is a move on the right direction. It brings together expertise from technology, space research, intelligence, education administration and logistics. Nilekani’s appointment is particularly significant. The former Infosys chief executive and architect of Aadhaar has experience in building large-scale digital public infrastructure involving hundreds of millions of citizens. The Aadhaar project itself was born out of a similar challenge: how to create a reliable identity system in a country where leakages and duplication weakened welfare delivery. India’s examination system now requires the same kind of thinking. The committee’s mandate to examine the entire examination lifecycle - from question paper creation and distribution to candidate verification, evaluation and results - is the right approach. The problem lies in multiple weak points where human intervention, poor security protocols and outdated processes can create opportunities for malpractice. Technology will inevitably be central to the solution. Artificial intelligence can help detect unusual patterns, blockchain-based verification can strengthen record security and better data systems can improve transparency. But a secure examination system requires independent oversight, professional management, clear accountability and swift punishment for wrongdoing. India’s National Testing Agency was created to bring efficiency and standardisation to public examinations. Its credibility must now be restored through reforms that are visible and trusted by students. The Nilekani task force has been given the difficult job of repairing that trust. The government has chosen a committee led by people with experience of managing complex national systems. It is a sensible first step. The real test will now be whether its recommendations translate into action.

Free library for commuters on Western Railway

Cricketer AB De Villiers inaugurates 'Library Junction', a first' of its kind reading corner, at Churchgate Railway Station, on Friday. | Pic: Bhushan Koyande
Cricketer AB De Villiers inaugurates 'Library Junction', a first' of its kind reading corner, at Churchgate Railway Station, on Friday. | Pic: Bhushan Koyande

Mumbai: The train commuters can have leisure time reading books at Churchgate Station as western railway started the library junction which will be the first of its kind in Mumbai. The initiative was taken by The Project Mumbai, an NGO known for public service. Now, the passengers can kill the travel time by reading books such as ‘The Immortals of Meluha’ by Amish Tripathi, ‘The Thousand Splendid Suns’ by Khalid Hosseini, ‘The White Tiger’ by Aravind Adiga, ‘The Book Thief’ by Markus Zusak and many more.

 

Currently, the library is home to 1200 books among which a section is given to children’s books, thrillers, fiction, non-fiction, magazines, romance, and so on. The books will be in four languages at present. It will have books in Hindi, English, Marathi and Gujarati. These books were all donated by ‘The Project Mumbai’, who has been collecting books for the public and the underprivileged. The genres will keep changing over time. If there is a Marathi literature week, then they will have a large number of Marathi books. In future the community project, although in a small space, will also be open to book launches.


Anyone who wishes to take books needs to give their basic information such as name, phone number and address. The book will be lent for two weeks and the person will get a reminder if not returned on time. There are no library cards to be issued. 


The purpose of the library is to inculcate and revive reading habits amongst people of Mumbai and make reading accessible to all. This initiative has an environmental angle also. The infrastructure built in red and stands as a post is made of recycled plastic bottles by ‘Jyoti Organisation’. 


The Library Junction was inaugurated by the South African cricketer AB de Villiers. He even donated two copies of his signed autobiography AB.


The location of the Library Junction is strategically chosen at the Churchgate station so that the commuters have more ease in getting books to read. There will be two librarians with different shifts who look after the books and the books will be locked in the cupboard when there is no one to supervise. The library will be closed only on Sundays. The books were collected from libraries, institutions and people. 


Pankaj Singh, Divisional Railway Manager, Mumbai Central Division, said, “At times we see the media and electronic media like mobile phones occupy a lot of time. But books are lovely. It is a personal passion of mine. The initiative is by the community and the structure is also made of recycled plastic. We will refurbish the beautiful furniture. We can have genre-specific months like a month for thrillers or biographies and so on.”


When asked whether the project will also help increase readers, Singh said. “Yes, I hope this will help revive reading and there are so many book lovers in the city. We even have a children’s section where we have comics, graphic novels, and young adult books.”


The initiative was implemented after months of preparations. NGO will be building more such libraries at locations like metros stations in Mumbai.

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