In a bid to curb cheating in various examinations across the country, the central government has introduced the Public Examination (Prevention of Unfair Means) Bill, 2024 in the parliament today. The bill proposes stringent measures and punishment for those involved in irregularities in exams and paper leaks. As per a Hindustan Times report, the draft legislation proposes a jail term of minimum 3 to 5 years for those involved in leaking exam papers. However, the jail term could go up to 10 years in cases where the offense is done through an organised syndicates, it adds. 


The draft legislation is aimed at mitigating all sorts of irregularities in several public examinations. The draft also covers exams conducted by the Union and state public service commission, and railways. It also oversees various entrance exams for engineering, medical, as well as university entrances. 


Besides imposing a fine of Rs 1 Crore for firms involved in irregularities in exams, the draft also proposed debarring firms from conducting further examinations for four years if found guilty of any irregularity. The proposal also underlines that investigations into paper leak cases shall be done by an officer above the rank of deputy superintendent of police or assistant commissioner of police. The power of transferring of such cases to any central agency shall rest with the central government, the legislation suggests. 


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The draft guidelines on the Public Examination (Prevention of Unfair Means) Bill 2024 have reportedly identified 20 offences and unfair means. Some of these offences include impersonating, manipulating answer sheets and tampering with documents for shortlisting or finalising the merit or rank of a candidate.


Notably, in the past few months, incidents of paper leaks and other irregularities in various exams swept across the country. In a similar move, the Jharkhand government introduced the Jharkhand Competitive Examination (Prevention And Redressal of Unfair Means in Recruitment) Bill, 2023, to curb cheating and malpractices in state entrance exams. The bill was passed in the Jharkhand assembly on August 3, 2023. 


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