New Delhi (TIP)- The Rajya Sabha on Friday passed the Public Examinations (Prevention of Unfair Means) Bill, 2024. The law which aims to curb irregularities in public examinations was passed by the Lok Sabha on February 6. Union Minister for Minister of State for Personnel, Public Grievances and Pensions Jitendra Singh, replying to the debate on the Bill said the legislation will protect students who are the “architects of new India and who will also be determining the face of India in 2047.”
Singh also said that the “first-of-its-kind in history” law will not penalise bonafide students.
The Bill penalises any person or persons resorting to unfair means with a minimum imprisonment of three years which may extend to five years and with fine up to Rs 10 lakh. The law also prescribes a higher sentence ranging from three to ten years if a company providing services for the exam is involved. For organised rackets involved in unfair means, the Bill prescribes a minimum sentence of five years which can extend up to ten years with a fine of up to Rs 1 crore. Unfair means under the proposed law is defined to include leakage of question paper or answer key, tampering with answer sheets including Optical Mark Recognition (OMR) response sheets, manipulation in seating arrangements, allocation of dates and shifts for the candidates among others.
Congress leader Digvijaya Singh who supported the Bill called for a review of online examinations. “Online examinations have become a platform for corruption. Companies that have been blacklisted in one place conduct their business elsewhere. I would request the minister to stop conducting online examinations and instead have offline exams,” he said.
The Statement of Objects and Reasons of the Bill states that malpractices in public examinations lead to delays and cancellation of examinations adversely impact the prospects of millions of youth. Since technical education is in the concurrent list, a central legislation on the subject would mean that states have to adopt the legislation.
Parliament passes three bills on J&K
The Parliament cleared a bill to add four groups, including Paddari and Pahari in the list of Scheduled Tribes in Jammu and Kashmir.The house approved the Constitution (Jammu and Kashmir) Scheduled Tribes Order (Amendment) Bill, 2024, which adds two other communities — Gadda Brahmin and Koli — to the Scheduled Tribes list. The Upper House also cleared The Jammu and Kashmir Local Bodies Laws (Amendment) Bill, 2024 and the Constitution (Jammu and Kashmir) Scheduled Castes Order (Amendment) Bill, 2024 by voice vote.
The Lok Sabha had cleared the bills earlier this week.The Jammu and Kashmir Local Bodies Laws (Amendment) Bill-2024 seeks to provide reservation to Other Backward Classes in panchayats and municipalities in Jammu and Kashmir and bring consistency in the local body laws of the Union territory with the provisions of the Constitution. Currently, there is no provision for reservation of seats for OBCs in panchayats and municipalities in Jammu and Kashmir.
The Constitution (Scheduled Castes) Order (Amendment) Bill, 2024, adds Valmiki community as a synonym of Chura, Balmiki, Bhangi, and Mehtar communities in the list of Scheduled Castes in Jammu and Kashmir.The bill seeks to amend the Constitution (Jammu and Kashmir) Scheduled Castes Order of 1956, which lists the castes deemed to be Scheduled Castes in Jammu and Kashmir, and Ladakh.
The three bills were taken simultaneously for discussion and passage in the Upper House.