Recently, in India, allegations of irregularities have emerged in two crucial government exams conducted online by the National Testing Agency (NTA), which has led to a political storm and has put the educational prospects of millions of students in jeopardy. In light of these developments, India is currently exploring the potential of Blockchain technology and Artificial Intelligence to ensure that exams are conducted in a fair manner. 

Two government exams- the National Eligibility cum Entrance Test (NEET) for medical aspirants and the UGC-NET (NET), the qualifying exam to teach in Indian universities, have come under the scanner for alleged “leak” of question papers and other irregularities. In the wake of these developments, the NTA has canceled UGC NET exam while handing over the probe of NEET irregularities to India’s premier investigation agency Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI). 

Instances of such irregularities in examinations not only undermine the government’s role in ensuring transparency in state recruitments, but also jeopardizes careers of several millions of students, resulting in waste of their time and efforts.

The Indian government has responded by removing the head of the NTA and setting up a seven-member committee led by K. Radhakrishnan, former ISRO (India’s space agency) chairman, to recommend reforms in exam processes and data security.

AI and Blockchain to help in transparency

In light of these developments, an article published in The Indian Express newspaper has stated that the Indian government could utilize the potential of blockchain and AI to ensure transparency in government exams. 

Technology plays a crucial role in modern day governance and the Indian government has been experimenting with blockchain technology to introduce decentralization in sectors of pharmaceuticals, agro-produce and insurance, logistics, and government university certificates. 

NITI Aayog, India’s premier think tank, had collaborated with the Indian School of Business (ISB) and Bitgram to create a prototype decentralized ledger of university certificates for students in order to avoid chances of fraud. Under this plan, ‘SuperCert’- a hashed version of certificate was generated for each student which had an original timestamp, that could prevent any chances of tampering. 

Using the same line of thinking, the technology could be used to introduce transparency in government examinations and ensure that neither the question paper gets “leaked” in advance nor the result certificates are tampered with. 

Initial reports regarding the two government exams had shown that the accused nefarious elements had used the dark web to gain access to question papers.

However, blaming the dark web alone is an oversimplification ast the true problem lies in systemic issues that create a demand for leaked papers. Therefore, a comprehensive approach is necessary to tackle this menace. The Radhakrishnan committee should consider multiple innovative measures:

Storing Question Paper on Blockchain: Using blockchain technology will help all stakeholders to ensure tamper free storage of the question papers and trace the history of each bundle of papers. 

Decentralized Conduct of Examinations:  Instead of a centralized server managing government exams in hundreds of centres throughout the country, the NTA can introduce decentralized computing to mitigate Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS) attacks.

AI to check malpractices: AI technology can be put to use to check instances of irregularities and malpractices by the candidates.

A holistic approach is required to tackle the menace of irregularities in online government exams with the use of blockchain and AI. While both are emerging technologies, the Indian government should not hesitate in maximizing their potential to ensure that genuine candidates do not feel cheated. 

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