India, July 27 -- A rocket scientist, the architect of Aadhaar and the director of an IIT may appear to have little in common with examination administration. Yet their selection for a task force set up to overhaul India's examination system reveals how dramatically the government is now viewing the problem.

The panel put together by Prime Minister Narendra Modi brings expertise from technology, space science, cybersecurity, intelligence, education, public administration and logistics into one reform effort.

Its composition indicates that paper leaks and examination failures are no longer being treated simply as isolated education-sector scandals.

Instead, the government appears to be approaching the examination system as a complex nat...