INTRODUCTION
The thing is a single piece of paper cannot decide your future, but the current scenario in the country looks very opposite to this. India has become a hub of malpractices relating to the public examinations and entrance exams of universities. The students who are working hard and giving their best in order to get into an institution for further studies are not getting fair chance because of these malpractices and unfair means. There was a massive row and protests over the alleged malpractices in conducting the NEET and UGC NET examinations. So in order to tackle with these problems the Ministry of Personnel, Public Grievances and Pensions came up with this Act. At present there have been large numbers of cases relating to question paper leaks in recruitment exams as well as university entrance exams. For instances: NEET exams and UGC-NET exams which were organized recently were either cancelled or postponed because of leak of question papers just before the exams. This type of situation creates chaos in the youths who are working hard day and night just to make their future better. Such malpractices in public examinations lead in delay and sometimes cancellation of examinations also impacting the millions of students. In order to prevent ‘unfair means’ in public examinations the parliament came up with this bill. While addressing the parliament Dr. Jitendra Singh quoted that, “this law is aimed at curbing the corrupt practices by few unscrupulous elements that play havoc with the future of our youth, by destroying their carriers and aspirations and sometimes resulting in fatal suicides.” Further-more he added that, “the future of our youth up to 40 years of age, who compromise 70% of our population, is at stake.”
PUBLIC EXAMINATION (PREVENTION OF UNFAIR MEANS) ACT, 2024
The Public Examination (Prevention of Unfair Means) Bill, 2024 was introduced in the Lok-Sabha on 5 February, 2024 in its Budget Session. The main aim of this bill was to prevent the unfair means and malpractices in the public examinations and in the university exams and to bring greater transparency and fairness in these examinations which affects the millions of youth. This act contains total 19 sections which are divided into VI chapters in order to comprehensively address all the issues which relating to the prevention of unfair means in public examinations. Till now there was no such legislation to deal with the unfair means in the public examinations. So the act was enacted to tackle the problems regarding the unfair practices in central recruitment and educational examinations. The President Draupadi Murmu gave her assent to the bill on 13 February, 2024. The Public Examination (Prevention of Unfair Means) Act, 2024 aims at the following:
- To prevent the malpractices in the public examinations as well as university exams,
- To bring greater transparency, fairness and credibility to the public examinations system,
- The act also lists for the tampering with the documents necessary for short-listing of candidates,
- To prevent manipulation in seating arrangements,
- Finalizing the merit or rank of a candidate,
- Creation of fake websites and issuance of fake admit cards or offer letters.
Further stating that the technology is also being widely used by some of the unscrupulous elements, the Department of Personnel and Training Minister said that, technological solutions will also be used in order to tackle the problems and a surveillance committee will also be constituted to address these concerns.
MEANING OF PUBLIC EXAMINATION
Section 2(k) of the Act defines the meaning of the Public Examinations as, those exams which are conducted by authorities notified by the Central Government. It includes the Union Public Service Commission, SSC, Railway Recruitment Board, NTA, etc. The act also prohibits the disclosure of exam-related confidential information and prevents unauthorized people from entering into exam centre to create disruption. The central government has been conferred with the power to add any new authority into the schedule by notification whenever required. Further-more Section 9 of the Bill also provides for the punishment regarding such offence. These offences are cognizable, non-bailable and non-compoundable. The offence is punishable with an imprisonment of 3 years which may exceed to 5 years and a fine of Rs.10 lakhs. Also if any institution is involved in the commission of such crimes then, the property of such institution is subject to attachment and forfeiture by the Government.
WHETHER THIS ACT IS MANDATORY OR NOT?
In India paper leaks have become quite normal from past several years. According to the report of the Indian Express, there have been 41 paper leaks in India over the past 5 years, affecting around 14 million youths. The frequent cases of paper leaks and malpractices at the examination centers with regard to the public examinations have damaged even the little faith in the testing agencies. The bonafide candidates who have dedicated their blood and sweat as well as have worked hard and sacrificed number of years in preparing for such examinations are neglected by the testing agencies and, those candidates who even do not have the basic qualifications criteria are being accepted by them, only because of illegal money being provided to these testing agencies. There was continuous rage and anger among the students which resulted in stepping towards this kind of legislation. In order to prevent these types of malpractices in the public examinations, the Central Government has come up with this act. Because there was serious concern regarding the future of the students which lead to several protests and strikes at several places in the country. The widespread malpractices in examinations have far reaching consequences, ranging from undermining the confidence in the educational institutions to diminishing the value of qualifications, and there by fostering of ethical decline in the society.
According to the report of the ‘Ministry of Personnel, Public Grievances & Pensions’ there are several instances as, In May, 2022 Rajasthan Police Constable Recruitment exam was hit by a scam. In West Bengal the Diploma in Elementary Education paper was leaked in November 2022. Again in December 2022, Teacher Recruitment Scam was unraveled in Rajasthan. Recently, the UGC-NET and the NEET paper leak cases were registered in UP. This is not the end, but several instances of malpractices in public examinations and question paper leak cases have been registered in India in past 5 years.
Another reason is that, the malpractices in the public examinations leads to delay and sometimes even cancellation of the exams, which adversely impacts the prospects of the millions of youths. There are various situations when the question paper has been leaked and resulted in the cancellation or postponement of the exams. No any agency or legislation was there which can help in identifying and addressing the elements that exploit vulnerability within the examination system. Several petitions were filed before different high courts in different states. As many as 43 petitions were listed before the honorable Supreme Court for hearing, which were related to alleged paper leaks in NEET examinations.
To tackle with these problems, the Government came up with this act whose objective is to prevent unfair means and effectively and legally deterring persons and organizations who are involved in these kinds of malpractices. The act aims to reassure the youth that their sincere and genuine efforts can be rewarded and their future can be safe. This act is a welcome legislation in the field of public examinations which is aimed at establishing an environment to conduct a fair and unbiased competition among the students. The act is aimed at preventing organized gangs and institutions that are involved in unfair means for monetary gains. The scale of paper leaks has become so vast that it cannot be controlled without a stringent legislation. After considering all the recent situations of the malpractices in the public examinations and unfair means being adopted while entrance exams, the government came up with the legislation which is not only going to curb these situations but also will focus on the fair and credible holding of the examinations.
CONCLUSION
Examination malpractices are nothing new in the Indian subcontinent, so in order to prevent such scenario, the Public Examination (Prevention of Unfair Means) Act, 2024 was enacted which outlines the measures for investigation and enforcement by designated law enforcement authorities. It provides for comprehensive oversight mechanisms to ensure accountability and transparency in the examination process. The act includes the monitoring of conduct of examinations, handling of complaints and unfair means used in the public examinations. The act serves to rebuild people’s confidence in exams by eliminating the malpractices used in such exams and putting in place sound preventive measures. The provisions of this act are extensive and the penalties used for the offenders are severe. The main objective behind the enactment of the act is to provide a fair chance to the millions of the youths so that they can get an opportunity of development without any unfair practices being involved. Even though the act is made to prevent the use of unfair means and malpractices in the public examinations and entrance exams, the main aim of the act is to protect the bona fide candidates and to punish the offenders only. The bona fide students who have worked hard over the year shall not be disqualified because of this act.
Authored by Aditya Tripathi University of Lucknow, Faculty of Law
REFERENCES
Press Information Bureau
The Indian Express
The Hindu
Indian Kanoon
Ipleaders
