NEET, UGC-NET Row: How the new Public Examinations Bill can prevent the use of unfair means | Explain

In India, grades and degrees decide an individual’s future. But if national-level exams are mired in controversy, what about the integrity and trust in the testing systems?

The controversy surrounding the National Eligibility-cum-Entrance Test (NEET) results and the cancellation of the June 2024 UGC-NET exams not only highlights the biggest risks – the candidates – who spend their time, money and their minds to prepare for such tests. prestigious exams, which will then be declared invalid, but also on the need for a system guaranteeing fairness and authenticity.

An uproar over NEET results began earlier this month after 64 candidates scored a perfect score of 720, with nearly 1,500 given ‘grace marks’ to make up for lost time while appearing at the exam and some of them alleged paper leak.

What is the new law on prevention of unfair means in examinations?

The Public Examinations (Prevention of Unfair Means) Bill, 2024 was passed in February to ensure that examinations in the country are conducted in a fair manner to bring credibility to the public examination system.

It contains a total of 19 sections divided into Chapters VI to comprehensively address all issues relating to the prevention of unfair means during public examination.

It deals with issues such as unfair means ranging from leaking the questionnaire, accessing or taking possession of the questionnaire or Optical Mark Recognition answer sheet without authorization, direct or indirect assistance to any candidate, such as providing solution to one or more questions by unauthorized person, violation of security measures, tampering with computer systems and conduct of fake examinations, issuance of fake admit cards or offer letters to cheat or for monetary gain.

How does the bill define public examinations?

A “public review” is defined as any review conducted by a “public review authority” listed in the Schedule to the Bill, or by any “any other authority as may be notified by the Central Government” under the Section 2(k).

The five public examination authorities under the Bill are: (i) the Union Public Service Commission (UPSC), which conducts the Civil Services Examination, Combined Defense Services Examinations, the combined medical services review and engineering services review; (ii) the Staff Selection Commission (SSC), which recruits for Group C (non-technical) and Group B (non-gazetted) jobs in the central government; (iii) Railway Recruitment Boards (RRBs), which recruit Group C and Group D personnel in the Indian Railways; (iv) the Institute of Banking Personnel Selection (IBPS), which recruits at all levels for nationalized banks and regional rural banks (RRBs); and (v) the National Testing Agency (NTA), which conducts JEE (Main), NEET-UG, UGC-NET, Common University Entrance Test (CUET).

In addition, all ministries and departments of the central government and their subordinate offices responsible for personnel recruitment also come under the Public Examinations Bill.

What are the sanctions provided for by the new law?

According to Article 9 of the Bill, all offenses are cognizable, non-bailable and cannot be combined, i.e. an arrest can be made without a warrant and bail will not be a question of law. Rather, it is a magistrate who will determine whether the accused. can be released on bail.

“Any person or persons resorting to unfair means and misdemeanors” will be sentenced to imprisonment of three to five years and will be liable to a fine of up to Rs 10 lakh. If the convict fails to pay the fine, “further imprisonment shall be imposed, in accordance with the provisions of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023”, states section 10(1) of the bill.

Section 10(2) of the Bill recognizes the responsibility of a service provider engaged to provide “support for any computing resource or hardware, by whatever name it may be called”. The punishment ranges from 3 to 10 years in prison along with a fine of Rs 1 crore. It further provides for a four-year ban on the service provider from carrying out public scrutiny, which is a concrete measure to fix its liability.

The bill provides for tougher penalties in cases of organized document leaks, where “organized crime” is defined as illegal activity by a group of people conspiring in a conspiracy “to pursue or promote a common interest of unfair gain in the context of a public examination”. .

Section 11(1) states that the penalty for organized crime shall be “imprisonment of not less than five years but which may extend to ten years” and a fine “which shall not be less than Rs 1 crore”.

Why is this bill necessary?

There have been at least 48 cases of document leaks across 16 states in the last five years, in which the hiring process for government jobs was disrupted, according to a report by The Indian Express. The leaks have impacted the lives of at least 1.51 crore candidates for around 1.2 lakh posts.

The bill’s statement of objects and reasons says: “Poor practices in public examinations lead to delays and cancellations of exams, negatively impacting the prospects of millions of young people. At present, there is no specific substantive law to deal with unfair means adopted or offenses committed…It is imperative that elements that exploit vulnerabilities in the examination system are identified and dealt with effectively through central legislation overall.

It clarifies that “the applicant as defined in the bill will not be responsible for actions falling within the scope of the bill and will continue to be covered by the existing administrative provisions of the public review authority concerned.”

What were the main paper leaks in India?

AIPMT: The All India Pre-Medical Test (AIPMT) questionnaire, now known as NEET, was leaked in 2011 in Haryana. Some candidates would use electronic devices, such as cell phones and Bluetooth devices, to receive answers during the exam. The incident led to the cancellation of the exam, affecting thousands of aspiring medical students.

IIT-JEE: The IIT-JEE (Indian Institutes of Technology Joint Entrance Examination) question papers, conducted every year for admission to IITs, were leaked in 1997 in Lucknow. According to reports, the materials were released through different channels, giving some candidates an unfair advantage over others. The Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE), which was then responsible for conducting the IIT-JEE, decided to cancel the exam and conduct a re-examination later in the year. In 2021, the diary was leaked again and a few foreign nationals were involved.

SSC CGL: In 2018, the Combined Higher Level (CGL) examination of the Staff Selection Commission (SSC) faced allegations of irregularities such as discrepancies in the conduct of the examination, including technical glitches and question paper leaks.

AIIMS: Question papers have been leaked on social media for the recruitment of 3,055 nursing officers in the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) exams. The exam was scheduled to be held in June 2023. On the day of the exam, screenshots of the question papers were circulated on social media, leading to speculation about a paper leak. The CBI arrested the violators.

Vyapam Scam: The Madhya Pradesh Professional Examination Board (MPPEB) scam revolved around Vyapam, an acronym for Vyavsayik Pariksha Mandal, a body responsible for conducting various entrance exams for professional courses and recruitment exams for government jobs in the state. The scam came to light in 2013 when irregularities and malpractices in the recruitment and admission processes conducted by Vyapam came to light. Impersonation, falsification of answer sheets and leaking of question papers were among the common tactics used to benefit certain candidates. A CBI court in 2019 convicted 31 people in this case.