NET-NEET row: How India can dismantle the paper-leak industry

While protesters have taken to the streets over the malpractices in the NEET entrance and the UGC-NET exams, the opposition parties are attacking the government and have vowed to take it up strongly in Parliament. People are debating who is guilty of shattering millions of dreams, and jeopardizing countless futures.

A concern common to all the stakeholders, including the Narendra Modi government, would definitely be, how can the well-oiled paper-leak industry be dismantled.

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Question papers for at least 70 examinations have been leaked in the last seven years, messing up with the schedules of 1.7 crore applicants.

A competitive examination system from the 1990s has to be reimagined amid the technological advances from 2010 onwards.

Tea central government on Friday notified the Public Examinations (Prevention of Unfair Means) Act, 2024, which aims to prevent unfair means in public examinations and common entrance tests held across the country. It has stringent provisions, but it alone won’t suffice.

To shatter the paper-leak industry, which has flourished due to increasing demand and patronage from powerful masters, individual states need to act, because it is in state-conducted exams that the problem is rampant. If local efforts are crucial in cracking down on the paper-leak mafia, so is the use of tech.

Also, as a society, we have to ponder that it is the demand that is propelling paper leaks.

NON-BAILABLE PROVISION IN NEW ANTI-CHEATING LAW

To address the vicious cycle of paper-leaks and for the faith of all stakeholders to be restored, the Narendra Modi government enacted ‘The Public Examinations (Prevention of Unfair Means) Act 2024’ in February.

“The legislation aims at safeguarding the merits of our youth and the well-being of our children,” Minister of State for Personnel Jitendra Singh said in Parliament.

The Act provides for punishment of a minimum of three to five years of imprisonment to curb cheating and for those involved in organized crimes of cheating will face five to 10 years of imprisonment and a minimum fine of Rs 1 crore.

It is the first act of its kind to curb the threat of paper leaks. The tough provisions of the Public Examinations (Prevention of Unfair Means) Act 2024 would treat these offenses as cognizable, non-bailable, and non-compoundable.

Hailing the new anti-cheating Act as “a crucial step”, Mohit Kumar Tyagi, the founder and CEO of the online exam preparation platform, Competishun, tells IndiaToday.In, “The financial burden on the government to reconduct examinations due to paper leaks is substantial. By enhancing these provisions, the law can be more effective in preventing such incidents”.

Similar optimism was echoed by Supreme Court advocate Anubha Shrivastava Sahai, who says, “This will make sure a convict does not walk out of jail in just 6 months, like in some cases from the past where provisions of the Indian Penal Code were used” .

ROLE OF STATES IN CURBING PAPER LEAKS

Months after the law was passed in February, the center notified the Public Examinations (Prevention of Unfair Means) Act, 2024late on Friday.

Although the new law means to crack down on the paper-leak mafia is extensive, it only includes the examinations that the central government conducts through its agencies, like the Union Public Service Commission, the Staff Selection Commission, the National Testing Agency, the Railway Recruitment Boards, the IBPS, and so on.

The state agencies like the Bihar Public Service Commission and the Rajasthan Staff Selection Commission have been left out of the Public Examinations (Prevention of Unfair Means) Act 2024.

“And that is what the government needs to include. It is in the states where most of these cases of paper leaks and unfair means come from,” advocate Anubha Shrivastava Sahai tells IndiaToday.In.

That said, the ball is now in the state’s court.

“It remains to be seen if the states, who are custodians of the subject of education, ratify the Central Act and implement it in the states,” she adds.

Amid the huge NET-NEET controversy, the Uttar Pradesh government has made a move to tackle the well-oiled paper-leak industry.

The Yogi Adityanath-led government will bring a new law to stop paper leaks and rein in ‘solver gangs’. There will also be provisions for heavy fines, bulldozer action and even a jail term.

EFFECTIVE IMPLEMENTATION AND LOCALIZED APPROACH TO FIGHT PAPER LEAKS

With the law in place, laying out an insufficient legal framework, experts point out a few tweaks to the anti-cheating Act and some extra-legislative multipronged suggestions to make the whole system of examination in India, big and small, cheating-proof.

“It is not just the law that would bring positive results in dismantling the threat of paper leaks. Their implementation matters too. The education bodies, and the officers at the grassroots level, say the districts, need to be empowered as well,” says Anubha Shrivastava Sahai, who is also the President of India Wide Parents Association.

“The coordination of all three tiers of government is needed to clamp down on unfair means in examinations,” she adds.

Experts propose several corrective measures to prevent paper leaks, including rescheduling canceled exams promptly to make sure the merit is not lost.

An easy resolution of exam-related grievances is equally important given the number of aspirants taking exams every year in India.

“The law should ideally ensure students do not have to go to court, the grievance redressal must be very strong so that students can approach them even from remote areas,” advocate Anubha Shrivastava Sahai tells IndiaToday.In.

Additionally, capacity-building programs for invigilators and utilizing AI and data analytics to increase transparency and security in the examination process, have to be focused on.

“The authorities may include provisions to involve ethical hackers to prevent lapses. Providing incentives to ethical hackers to identify system loopholes can greatly enhance the law’s effectiveness,” CEO of Competishun, an online exam preparation platform, Mohit Kumar Tyagi, tells IndiaToday.In.

“Moreover, offering rewards to informants who report potential leaks can ensure higher vigilance among all stakeholders,” he adds.

Now that the anti-unfair means law has been implemented, it would be expected that the new law meets its objectives and sets a legal precedent for the states to follow and make amendments for changing needs.