Recently, the landmark Public Examinations (Prevention of Unfair Means) Bill 2024, was introduced in Lok Sabha. The Bill aims to prevent unfair means in the public examinations. This will bring greater transparency, fairness and credibility in the public examinations system. The bill comes in the backdrop of cancellation of several recruitment exams due to paper leaks, such as teacher recruitment exam in Rajasthan and constable recruitment examination in Bihar.
What are the various provisions of the Public Examinations (Prevention of Unfair Means) Bill 2024?
Defined unfair means under the Bill
Section 3 of the Bill lists 15 actions that amount to using unfair means in public examinations “for monetary or wrongful gain”.
| 1. Leakage of question paper or answer key and colluding in such leakage. 2. Participating in collusion with others to effect leakage of question paper or answer key. 3. Accessing or taking possession of question paper or an OMR sheet without authority 4. Providing solutions to questions by any unauthorised person during a public exam. 5. Directly or indirectly assisting the candidate in any unauthorised manner. 6. Tampering with answer sheets, including OMR sheets. 7. Altering the assessment except to correct a bona fide error without any authority. 8. Wilful violation of norms or standards set up by the Central Government for conduct of a public examination on its own or through its agency. 9. Tampering with any document necessary for shortlisting of candidates or finalising the merit or rank of a candidate in a public examination. 10. Deliberate violation of security measures to facilitate unfair means in conduct of a public examination. 11. Tampering with the computer network or a computer resource or a computer system. 12. Manipulation in seating arrangements, allocation of dates and shifts for the candidates to facilitate adopting unfair means in examinations. 13. Threatening the life, liberty or wrongfully restraining persons associated with the public examination authority or the service provider or any authorised agency of the Government; or obstructing the conduct of a public examination. 14. Creation of fake website to cheat or for monetary gain. 15. Conduct of fake examination, issuance of fake admit cards or offer letters to cheat or for monetary gain |
Defined Public Examinations under the Bill
Section 2(k) of the Bill defines a “public examination” as any examination conducted by a “public examination authority” listed in the Schedule of the Bill.
| Public Examination Authorities under the Bill 1. Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) 2. Staff Selection Commission (SSC) 3. Railway Recruitment Boards (RRBs) 4. Institute of Banking Personnel Selection (IBPS) 5. National Testing Agency (NTA) 6. Ministries or Departments of the Central Government and their attached and subordinate offices for recruitment of staff. 7. Such other authority as may be notified by the Central Government. |
Punishments Under The New Bill
Section 9 of the Bill deals with the nature of offences under the new Bill.
Nature of Offences– The offences under the new bill have been made Cognizable, Non-bailable and Non-compoundable.
a. Cognizable– An arrest can be made without a warrant
b. Non-bailable– Bail will not be a matter of right. A magistrate will determine whether the accused is fit to be released on bail
c. Non-compoundable– A non-compoundable offence is one in which the case cannot be withdrawn by the complainant even when the complainant and the accused have reached a compromise. A trial will necessarily follow for the accused.
| Punishments under the Bill 1. Punishment for any person or group of persons resorting to unfair means- 3–5 years in prison and fine up to Rs. 10 Lakh. In case of failure to pay the fine, additional punishment as per the provisions of Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita 2023 will be imposed. 2. Punishment in case of organised Paper Leak- 5-10 years in prison and fine of more than one crore rupees. In case of failure to pay the fine, additional punishment as per the provisions of Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita 2023 will be imposed. 3. Punishment for Service Provider- Fine of Rs 1 cr and are further barred from conducting future examination for period of 4 years. |
What are The Advantages of The Public Examinations (Prevention of Unfair Means) Bill 2024?
1. Stem the question paper leaks in recruitment examinations- The hiring process has been disrupted by high instances of question paper leaks. For ex- There have been 48 question paper leaks in 16 states over the last five years that impacted 1.51 crore applicants who applied for about 1.2 lakh posts.
2. Transparency, fairness and credibility to the public examination systems- The bill will reassure the youth that their sincere and genuine efforts for the public examinations will be fairly rewarded.
3. Deter the criminal and organised paper leak mafia- The harsh punishments and fines will deter the organised paper leak crime mafias in the country. They will be deterred in exploiting the vulnerabilities of the examination system.
4. Securing the computer based Tests- The bill recommends to create a High-level national technical committee on public examinations which will make recommendations to make the computerised examination process more secure.
5. Draft Model Bill for the states- The bill will serve as a model-bill for the states to secure their state-level public examination system.
| Read More- The Public Examinations Bill 2024 |
What are The Concerns with The Bill?
1. Discretion of the state governments- The bill leaves it to the discretion of the state governments to draft their own acts by serving as a model bill. However, state governments have displayed partisan interests in drafting model bills in the past, like the Model APLM Act.
2. Loopholes which can be exploited to evade criminal sanctions- Students have been kept out of the criminal sanctions under the bill. They have been placed under the administrative rule of the concerned public authority of examination. However, paper leak gang members may take advantage of this loophole by posing themselves as students and escaping harsh criminal punishment.
3. Composition of National-Technical Committee on Public Exams- The bill does not provide for the composition and qualification of the members of the National-Technical Committee on Public Exams. There are chances of partisanship in selection of members by the central government.
4. Scope of subordinate legislation- The bill leaves scope for subordinate legislations like making various rules under the act. The executive authorities will have a large discretionary power in the implementation of the bill.
Conclusion
The Public examinations Bill is a remarkable step by the Central Government to protect the interests of student community who give their life and soul for the preparation of public examinations. The need of the hour is that state governments adopt this model Bill to ensure the integrity of their public examination systems.
| Read More- The Indian Express UPSC Syllabus– GS 2- Government policies and interventions for the development of various sectors (Bills and Acts) |
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