The Lok Sabha on Tuesday passed the Public Examinations (Prevention of Unfair Means) Bill, 2024 to check malpractices and organised cheating in government recruitment exams. The bill proposes a minimum of three years imprisonment and a fine up to ₹1 crore.
Replying to a debate on the Bill that was passed after a brief discussion, Union Minister for Personnel Jitendra Singh said that he wanted to clarify that no candidate will be harassed as the legislation is against people who misuse the system.
“There is no attempt to centralise the system. When an examination is cancelled, it affects the students, their years are wasted. While a time-bound completion of such [cancelled] examinations may not be assured, the efforts are on,” Mr. Singh said.
Around 70 lakh candidates appear in exams conducted by the Staff Selection Commission (SSC), he said.
The Minister stated that the Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) conducts examinations in 13 languages and in future they hope to include all the 22 languages.
“Punishment itself is a deterrent to prevention. This is the first step towards prevention,” the Minister said.
He also added that the Bill will gradually push for conducting exams in more regional languages given the rising use of technology and artificial intelligence (AI).
To critique that the proposed legislation is redundant and should be a part of the existing Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, Dr. Singh said that the offences are not specifically mentioned in BNS. “We have tried to define and identify the unfair means in the conduct of examinations,” he said, and if the magnitude of the crime goes beyond an extent, it will fall in the domain of BNS.
“We cannot allow the meritorious to be sacrificed at the altar of such organised crimes,” he said.
Congress party’s M.K Vishnu Prasad urged the government to ensure that the re-examination takes place within three months of cancellation as the youth cannot wait indefinitely. He said that 14 million students apply for 1.04 lakh jobs.
Mr. Prasad said many suicides in Tamil Nadu have taken place because “children are not able to get through NEET examinations”. He said T.N. was opposing NEET as it denies a level-playing field to students who are trained in government syllabus in a particular language and they are forced to compete with students at all-India level who have studied in private institutions and coaching centres.
“The Bill only talks about imprisonment punishment and fine. It doesn’t talk about how these malpractices can be controlled. Why are these even happening? For instance, ascertaining why a student cheats. There should be a comprehensive policy to attract students to training centres. You have a policy for punishment but what have you done for aspirants? When computers can be hacked, why not EVMs? The government should focus on this and bring a separate legislation. Elections and examinations are not different. Both are equal and important,” Mr. Prasad said.
BJD member Achyutananda Samanta said that the climate of cruel competition is instilled in students and cheating is perceived as an effective shortcut to passing examinations. “Desperate parents are also ready to go to any extent to see their kids emerge victorious... The presence of fear is justified as important and is used to threaten children. Exams are more about elimination than selection thereby enhancing the importance of coaching,” he said.
RSP member N.K. Premachandran requested the Chair to send the Bill to the parliamentary standing committee for scrutiny. “The quantum of the Bill is disproportionate. Definitions are exhaustive and can be interpreted in any manner,” he added.
Congress member Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury said that while the Bill may endorse transparency, “the transparency regime in the country is facing challenges”. He cited India’s decline in the Corruption Perception Index and the vacancies in the Information Commission posts. With growing data breaches and leaks of private data, how will the government plug [transparency] loopholes? he asked.
Mr. Chowdhury reiterated the other Opposition members’ concern that the Bill confers disproportionate powers to Central agencies, which would further throttle Opposition voices, he added.
