New Delhi: The Lok Sabha on Tuesday handed the Public Examinations (Prevention of Unfair Means) Bill, 2024, which goals to crack down on dishonest and fraud in authorities recruitment exams and aggressive entrance exams. The invoice covers exams carried out by the Union Public Service Commission (UPSC), Staff Selection Commission (SSC) and entrance exams resembling National Eligibility cum Entrance Test (NEET) and Joint Entrance Examination (JEE). The invoice exempts bonafide candidates and college students, as outlined within the invoice, from any motion underneath its provisions.
The invoice was launched within the decrease home by Minister of State for Personnel and Training Jitendra Singh, who stated that the invoice was meant to guard the pursuits of deserving college students and candidates. “This is above politics and concern which deals with the daughters and sons of this country, which we all of us should share. There are few doubts as we have not read the bill thoroughly. Firstly I want to clear that the students or the candidates do not fall in the purview of this legislation. This bill is for those who indulge in unfair means and adversely impact the public examination system for wrongful gains,” he stated.
The invoice comes within the backdrop of a number of circumstances of malpractices and irregularities in public exams, resembling paper leaks, impersonation, use of solver gangs and hacking of digital platforms, which have affected the credibility and equity of the examination system and brought on hardship to real aspirants. The invoice seeks to handle these challenges by making a authorized framework to forestall, detect and punish such offences.
What are the important thing options of the invoice?
It defines unfair means as any act or omission that offers an undue benefit to an individual or group of individuals in a public examination or impacts the conduct of such examination. It contains acts resembling copying, dishonest, impersonating, utilizing unauthorized materials or gadgets, tampering with reply sheets or query papers, leaking or acquiring confidential info, hacking or disrupting digital platforms, and abetting or conspiring with others to commit such acts.
It prescribes penalties for various classes of offences, starting from imprisonment of six months to 10 years and positive of Rs 50,000 to Rs 1 crore, relying on the character and gravity of the offence. The penalties are larger for repeat offenders and for individuals who commit offences in exams associated to nationwide safety, defence or civil companies.
It empowers the central authorities and its businesses to nominate examiners, invigilators, observers, supervisors and different personnel for the conduct of public exams and to challenge tips and instructions for guaranteeing the safety and integrity of such exams.
It offers for the institution of a National Technical Committee on Public Examinations, which can be liable for growing protocols and requirements for the usage of know-how in public exams, resembling guaranteeing cyber safety, digital surveillance, foolproof IT programs and repair ranges for each IT and bodily infrastructure.
It additionally offers for the structure of particular courts for the speedy trial of offences underneath the invoice and for the appointment of particular public prosecutors for the prosecution of such offences.
How will the invoice profit the scholars and candidates?
The invoice is anticipated to convey extra transparency, equity and credibility to the general public examination system and to reassure the scholars and candidates that their laborious work and benefit can be duly acknowledged and rewarded. The invoice may also deter the anti-social and felony components who exploit the loopholes and vulnerabilities within the examination system and trigger hurt to the way forward for the youth and the nation.
The invoice can be consistent with the assorted reforms launched by the federal government to enhance the effectivity and effectiveness of the examination system, resembling introducing self-attestation, lowering the examination cycle, abolishing interviews for lower-level posts, conducting computer-based exams and issuing digital appointment letters underneath ‘Rojgar Mela’.
