Guwahati: The Assam government has tabled a new Bill to combat malpractices and unfair means in public examinations conducted by the state for recruitment to any post.
Tabled Monday, the first day of the budget session of the 15th Legislative Assembly, the Assam Public Examination (Measures for Prevention of Unfair Means in Recruitment) Bill, 2024, was necessitated after incidents of question paper leaks and unfair practices were reported in state-level recruitment exams.
According to the provisions of the Bill, any examinee found indulging in unfair means will have to undergo a prison term of at least three years and pay a fine of not less than Rs 1 lakh.
This includes any person attempting to leak, procure or sell question papers or possessing any question paper in an unauthorised manner. It also involves solving or seeking assistance in solving a question paper, or directly or indirectly assisting the examinee in the public examination in an unauthorised manner.
A heavier penalty of no less than Rs 10 lakh that may also extend to Rs 10 crore shall be imposed on any person, including examinees, found involved in opening and distribution of question papers before the fixed time. The jail term set for such instances is at least five years, but may extend to 10 years depending on the severity of the crime.
The legislative action had received the state cabinet’s nod on 23 January.
In 2020, the Assam Police were shaken by the question paper leak scandal during an exam held for the recruitment of sub-inspectors. A total of 597 positions at the sub-inspector level were to be filled, and over 66,000 candidates were to appear in the exam, but it had to be cancelled following early reports that the question paper had been leaked and circulated via WhatsApp. The exam was held later.
(Edited by Nida Fatima Siddiqui)
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