A new legislation aimed at preventing paper leaks during important exams is scheduled to be presented in Parliament on February 5. The proposed Public Examination (Prevention of Unfair Means) Bill, of 2024 suggests a prison sentence of three to five years for paper leak incidents and five to 10 years for organized crimes related to exam fraud.
Additionally, the bill recommends a fine of up to Rs 1 crore for organized crimes. This information was reported by the Hindustan Times.
The Minister of State for Personnel, Public Grievances, and Pensions, Jitendra Singh, intends to seek permission to introduce a bill aimed at curbing cheating and enhancing transparency in a range of public exams such as UPSC, SSC, RRC, NEET, JEE, CUET, and others.
The bill specifically identifies around 20 infractions and unethical behaviors, including impersonation, tampering with answer sheets, and manipulation of documents during the evaluation of a candidate's performance or ranking.
Service provider firms may face a fine of up to Rs 1 crore under the Bill, along with the recovery of exam costs and a four-year ban on conducting public exams.
As per the Bill, inquiries must be carried out by an official of at least the rank of deputy superintendent of police or assistant commissioner of police. The federal government also has the option to assign the investigation to any central agency.
During her speech to the combined session of Parliament, President Droupadi Murmu discussed the implementation of a legislation to monitor and prevent irregularities in exams. She stated, My administration understands the worries of young people regarding exam irregularities. As a result, we have chosen to establish a new law to address such misconduct with severity.
The proposed legislation includes the creation of a National Technical Committee to set guidelines for improving IT security, strengthening digital platforms, introducing electronic surveillance at exam centers, and establishing national infrastructure and IT standards for public examinations.
