Bill in LS to end unfair means in govt exams

NEW DELHI: The Centre on Monday introduced a Bill in the Lok Sabha to check malpractices in government

recruitment exams such as paper leaks and fake web- sites, with strict penalties including a minimum jail term of three years and a fine up to Rs 1 crore.

At present, there is no specific substantive law to deal with unfair means adopted or offences committed by various entities involved in the conduct of public examinations by the central government and its agencies.

The Public Examinations (Prevention of Unfair Means) Bill, 2024, introduced by Union Minister of State for Personnel Jitendra Singh, mentions “leakage of question paper or answer key”, “directly or indirectly assisting the candidate in any manner unauthorisedly in the public examination” and “tampering with the computer network or a computer resource or a computer system” as offences done by a person, group of persons or institutions.

The Bill will cover entrance examinations held by the Union Public Service Commission (UPSC), the Staff Selection Commission (SSC), the Railways, banking recruitment examinations and all computer-based examinations conducted by the National Testing Agency (NTA), Singh said.

It proposes a minimum of three to five years of imprisonment to curb cheating and those involved in organised crimes of cheating will face five to 10 years of imprisonment and a minimum fine of Rs 1 crore, he said.

The Bill is aimed at preventing organised gangs and institutions involved in unfair means for monetary gains, but it protects candidates from its provisions, the minister said.

Singh said many states have had to cancel or were unable to declare results of public examinations in the recent past due to adverse impact of unfair practices. If not effectively prevented and deterred, it will continue to jeopardise the future and careers of millions of aspiring youths of this country. In many instances, it has been observed that organised groups and mafia elements are involved. They deploy solver gangs, impersonation methods and indulge in paper leaks. The Bill primarily aims to deter such kind of nefarious elements,” Singh said.

n view of many examinations being conducted online, he said, it has also been decided to set up a high-level national technical committee also.