Realizing the problem of leakages of question papers and cases of cheating in public examinations, the Indian government has recognized a new legislation known as the Public Examinations (Prevention of Unfair Means) Act, 2024. This is so given that the furor around hi-profile examinations such as NEET and UGC-NET is still fresh as some of them have been permeated with irregularities.
The new law is expected to bring stricter measures for the offenders participating in malpractices during written examinations organized by premier organizations like the UPSC, SSC, recruitment tests for banks/NPA, and the NTA.
Key Provisions of the Act:
Stringent Punishments: Any person found cheating by handing over papers or influencing answer sheets can be imprisoned for a minimum of 3 years and a period of 5 years and liable to penalties extending up to ₹10 lakh.
Non-Bailable Offences: All offenses under the Act are triable summarily, which means that the offender can be arrested without a warrant at the instance of anyone.
Accountability for Service Providers: If an exam agency does not report the know offenses, they can be penalise with a colossal amount of ₹1 crore.
Crackdown on Organized Cheating: While senior officials involved in such activities may risk to be imprisoned for 3 to 10 years and charged ₹1 crore fines. If entire involved agencies are found to be guilty, they can be imprisoned for 5- 10 years and fined equally.
Protection for the Innocent: It may help those who can provide evidence that they did not know the offense and, in the event, tried their best to ensure it was not committed.
This is after the NEET exam fell out over the cases of question papers leak, especially in Bihar. The UGC-NET was also conducted but was wholly canceled due to integrity concerns. In this context, what used to be the power horse of online entrance test conducting has now resorted to postponing the June JB tested in Joint CSIR-UGC-NET.
The yesterday enacted new law was welcomed by the stakeholders, who expect it to act as a strong deterrent and help regain public confidence in their academic and recruitment examinations in India, which are vital components of society.
