Centre’s anti-cheating bill passed in Lok Sabha: Punishment up to 10 years in jail, ₹1 crore fine

The Public Examinations (Prevention of Unfair Means) Bill, 2024 has been tabled in the Lok Sabha by Union Minister Jitendra Singh to address cheating and other unfair practices in various public examinations. The bill aims to enhance transparency, fairness, and credibility in the examination system and reassure young individuals that their sincere efforts will be justly rewarded and their future secured¹².

Here are the key points of the bill:

1. Offences Covered: The bill identifies several unfair means and offences during public examinations, including:

   • Leaking question papers or answer keys.
   • Colluding with others to leak question papers or answer keys.
   • Unauthorized possession of question papers or Optical Mark Recognition (OMR) response sheets.
   • Providing solutions to questions during an exam.
   • Assisting candidates in unauthorized ways.
   • Tampering with answer sheets or OMR response sheets.
   • Violating norms or standards set by the central government for conducting exams.
   • Tampering with documents used for shortlisting or ranking candidates.
   • Deliberate violation of security measures during exams.
   • Tampering with computer networks or systems.
   • Manipulating seating arrangements or exam schedules¹.

2. Punishments:

   • Cheating: Minimum 3 to 5 years of imprisonment.
   • Organized cheating: 5 to 10 years of imprisonment and a minimum fine of ₹1 crore³.

The bill aims to curb malpractices in various public examinations, including those conducted by Union and state public service commissions, railways, and entrance exams for medical, engineering, and university programs¹⁴. It’s a significant step toward maintaining the integrity of our examination systems. 📚✍️