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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.

The Power of a Name: Why a Woman’s Surname Should Remain Her Own

A woman’s surname is not a tradition to be surrendered—it is an identity to be honoured.

AI generated image
AI generated image

In every culture, names carry stories—childhoods, histories, places, belonging and identity.A surname is not just a word on certificates; it is a quiet record of one’s origins, the echo of generations, and the imprint of a life lived so far.


Yet tradition created a strange rule: when a woman marries, she must surrender her name—as though her identity were an object to be moved or a page rewritten for someone else’s story.This expectation is old, deeply rooted—and unnecessary.


Today, more and more women are questioning it. And rightfully so. A woman’s surname is not a temporary gift from her birth family.


A girl grows into her surname. She writes it in school, signs it on her work and uses it to build her world. Her surname becomes part of her identity long before she understands marriage.


So why should marriage demand she abandon it?Does her life before that moment become irrelevant?Does marriage erase who she was, who she is or who she hopes to be?Of course not.


Patriarchal Roots.

Historically, the practice of a woman changing her surname arose from patriarchal systems in which she was treated as property—transferred from her father’s household to her husband’s, with the surname marking that shift.We no longer live in that world. Women study, earn, build, and lead—yet this symbolic chain—the expectation to surrender her surname—still lingers.


When society says, “After marriage, change your surname,” it is not merely asking for a new spelling.It is asking for an identity shift, implying her individuality is secondary and that she must now “belong” elsewhere.That idea is not only outdated—it is disrespectful.


Why should a woman be the only one asked to change?Has anyone ever asked a groom, “Will you change your surname after marriage?”No, because society sees his identity as fixed and hers as adjustable.This disparity reveals the stereotype clearly.


If a family truly believes in equality, why is the surname conversation always one-sided?Why cannot a man take his wife’s surname, or both keep their own, or children carry either, both, or a hyphenated version?


The truth is simple:If a demand is made of only one partner, it is not equality—it is gender bias.


A woman honouring her story

Keeping her surname is not rebellion, disrespect or “attitude”.It is a woman saying, “My identity matters. My story matters. My name matters.”She preserves the memories tied to it—her parents, her childhood, her achievements, struggles and growth.She reminds the world that a woman is defined not by marital status but by the life she builds with determination, compassion and dreams.A retained surname sends a clear message: a woman is not an object to be renamed but an individual to be respected.


Partnership, not a renaming ceremony

Marriage is meant to be two people walking together—not one person bending to adjust everything, from home to habits to surname.If marriage is built on love, trust and mutual respect, why should a woman’s name become a test of commitment? Why should giving up her surname be seen as proof of devotion?Love does not erase identity. Respect does not rewrite personal history. Partnership does not ask one person to shrink so the other may remain whole.A woman keeping her surname is not rejecting her partner—she is simply honouring herself.


Redefining the norm

Across the world, women now choose to keep their surnames—doctors, teachers, entrepreneurs, artists, writers, professors, homemakers, mothers, dreamers and doers. They show the next generation that identity is non-negotiable.They teach boys that marriage is not about controlling a woman’s choices.They normalise the idea that a woman can love her partner and also love the name she grew up with. And slowly, society is changing.


Because the real question is not, “Why is she keeping her surname?”It is: “Why was she ever asked to change it?”


The practice has no logical, emotional or ethical basis; it is simply a tradition repeated without thought.And every tradition must face one test: Does it respect human dignity? If not, it must evolve.


A woman keeping her surname after marriage is not rebellion—it is evolution, self-respect and equality in its simplest form.Her surname is a poem of her past; marriage is the journey she chooses for her future. Why should one erase the other?Let her write her life with her own name—the name she was born with, grew with and stands strong with.Her surname is her story, and no story should be renamed.


(The writer is a tutor based in Thane. Views personal.)


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