THEOPTIMISTICJOURNALIST

MODI 3.0 notifies Public Examinations (Prevention of Unfair Means) ACT, 2024

The ACT intends to deter persons, organised groups or institutions that implement and execute unfair practices to corrupt the public examination systems for monetary or wrongful gains.

In the wake of a rising clamor among the youth for seeking the government’s action to rescue their prospects, the Modi Government notified the Public Examinations (Prevention of Unfair Means) Act, 2024. Recently, the NEET-UG (National-Eligibility-cum-Entrance Test) for admission to under graduate courses in medical college was allegedly marred by irregularities. The gravity of the situation can be understood as the CSIR UGC-NET Exams for June 2024 were postponed.

The PUBLIC EXAMINATIONS (PREVENTION Of UNFAIR MEANS) ACT, 2024

Crime & Punishment

The Bill underscores an underlying spirit to serve justice to tens of millions of Bharat’s youth. The measures lie pursuant to a top-down approach with stringent punishments to the service providers (barred from being assigned with any responsibility for the conduct of any public examination for 4-Years) ranging to strict punishments of the notorious individuals.

Punishments Include

The Service Provider shall be barred from being assigned with any responsibility for the conduct of any public examination for 4-years in addition to paying an amount in proportion to the cost of examinations towards recovery and a fine amounting up to Rupees One Crore.

Director(s), Senior Management or the persons in-charge of the service provider firm, he shall serve a jail sentence for up to 10-years, in addition to a fine of Rupees one crore.

Person(s) resorting to unfair means and offences, shall serve a prison sentence for up to 5-years and with fine up to ten lakh rupees.

Offences include

Participating in leakage of question paper or answer key or part thereof, either individually or by colluding with others,

and/or

directly or indirectly assisting the candidate in a manner un-authorized for the public examination, among several offences enlisted by the Bill.

Mandate to Investigate

No officer below the rank of Deputy Superintendent of Police or Assistant Commissioner of Police shall be authorized to investigate any offence under this Act.

Reforms from the past

Government has introduced several reforms to enhance transparency in examinations for recruitment as well as admission to higher education institutions.

These, inter alia, include introducing self-attestation; shortening examination cycle (from 18-22 months to 6-10 months); doing away with interviews for recruitment to Group ‘C’ and ‘D’; introduction of computer based tests and issuance of appointment letters through digital means under “Rojgar Mela”.

Purview

The Act covers under its purview examinations conducted by the following bodies:-

1. Union Public Service Commission (U.P.S.C.)

2. Staff Selection Commission (S-S-C)

3. Railway Recruitment Boards (R-R-B)

4. Institute of Banking Personnel Selection (I-B-P-S)

5. Ministries or Departments of the Central Government and their attached and subordinate offices for recruitment of staff.

6. National Testing Agency (N.T.A.)

7. Such other authority as may be notified by the Central Government.

The critics believe than the opposition can claim another moral victory as the Act gets notified but the academicians may perceive this as a reaffirmation to the commitment towards ensuring that nothing takes precedence over future of the youth by MODI 3.0

Whether a significant difference is made after the Act comes to effect needs yet to be evidenced.