Edited by Deepali Verma
Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led central government is looking to introduce the Public Examinations (Prevention of Unfair means) Bill, 2024, in the coming week in the Parliament.
The aim of the legislation is to establish the country’s first-ever national law against unfair means in public examinations, for government job recruitment and admission to central educational institutions.
The bill incorporates tough penalties, extending up to a decade in prison and fine not less than Rs 1 crore, for the organised mafias and individual offenders that are associated with the examination authorities, service provider firms or institutions.
President Droupadi Murmu, during her address to a joint sitting of the Parliament, stated, “My government is aware regarding the concerns of youth with respect to the irregularities in examinations. Therefore, the government has come to a decision to enact a new law to deal sternly with such malpractices.”
The reports from Times of India deals with persons engaged in impersonation of a candidate, paper solving, causing an examination at a place other than the examination centre or not reporting an exam fraud (like an invigilator). The aforementioned offences carry the potential to attract a jail term of 3-5 years and fine upto Rs 10 lakh.
Additionally, a service provider engaged in conduct of the computer-based examination, if found guilty, will be charged with a fine up to Rs 1 crore and may be barred from holding the exam for four years.
It is likely that the proposed bill will likely include public servants engaged in paper leaks, who may invite 3-5 years in prison and a fine of upto Rs 10 lakh. Public servants working for organised exam mafias can face 5-10 years in prison, inviting not less than Rs 1 crore in fine.
A high-level national technical committee on public examinations will be established to develop protocols for securing digital platforms.
The committee will formulate national standards for secure IT systems in exams conducted by entities including the UPSC, SSC, RRB, IBPS, JEE, NEET, and CUET.
