The recent NEET-UG 2024 exam paper leak has put the question mark on integrity of examination system in India. The Public Examinations (Prevention of Unfair Means) Act, 2024 , which was passed by the Indian Parliament to “to curb paper leaks, malpractices, as well as organised malpractices in recruitment examinations like UPSC, SSC etc and entrance tests such as NEET, JEE and CUET.

Aims and Objectives of the Act:

1. Ensuring Examination Integrity: To maintain the fairness of public examinations by curbing malpractices such as cheating and impersonation.
2. Strengthening Accountability: To ensure that candidates, examination staff, and invigilators are held accountable for maintaining examination standards.
3. Deterring Unfair Practices: To establish strict legal consequences to deter individuals and organized groups from engaging in malpractice. Eg. vyapam scam, CBSE paper leak in 2018
4. Promoting Meritocracy: To safeguard the merit-based system, ensuring only deserving candidates succeed in public examinations.
5. Restoring Public Trust: To enhance public confidence in the examination process by ensuring transparency and fairness.

Provisions in the Act:

1. Defining Unfair Means:

1. Leaking question papers or answer keys
2. Assisting candidates during exams (unauthorized communication, providing solutions)
3. Tampering with computer networks or resources
4. Impersonating candidates
5. Conducting fake examinations or issuing fake documents
6. Tampering with documents for merit lists or ranks

2. Criminalisation of Cheating: Engaging in unfair means such as impersonation, leaking exam papers, or using unauthorized devices is considered a criminal offense with penalties including fines and imprisonment.
3. Penalties and Punishments:

1. Individuals:
   1. Imprisonment ranges from 3 to 10 years depending on the offense’s severity
   2. Fines up to Rs. 1 crore for organized crimes
2. Service providers:
   1. Fines up to Rs. 1 crore for involvement in malpractices
   2. Barring from conducting public examinations for 4 years
   3. Personal liability for directors/management involved
3. Organized crimes:
   1. Harsher penalties, with imprisonment between 5 and 10 years and a minimum fine of Rs. 1 crore
   2. The institution involved can face property attachment and forfeiture
4. Additional Measures:

1. Establishing specialized courts for speedy trial of offenses
2. Promoting public awareness about the bill and its implications.
3. Empowering Authorities:

1. Conduct surprise checks at exam centers and seize electronic devices if suspected foul play
2. Blacklist service providers found guilty of malpractices
3. Share information and coordinate across agencies to effectively tackle organized cheating

Challenges in implementation

1. Implementation Across Diverse Regions: The scale, availability, and capacity of resources, infrastructures, and officials as well as coordination among them may impact the measures required by the Act.
2. Technological Infrastructure: smaller examining bodies and institutions can experience difficulties in implementing such enhanced registration and verification methods as biometrics and central controls.
3. Resistance to Change: stakeholders involved in the examination activities may not accept change brought by the Act from the traditional examination practices. 

Coverage of the Act:

1. Public Examinations: The Act applies to central and state public examinations, including those for recruitment, professional licenses, and government jobs.
2. University and State Education Board Examinations: The Act covers university exams and state education board exams, ensuring fairness in both higher and secondary education assessments.
3. Competitive Examinations: Major national-level exams like UPSC, SSC, and state public service commissions are within the purview of the Act.
4. Private Examination Centres: Examination centres, whether state-run or private, operating under public examination guidelines, are subject to the provisions of the Act.
5. Digital and Online Examinations: Online exams, vulnerable to hacking or unauthorised access, are also included to prevent digital forms of cheating.

The Public Examination (Prevention of Unfair Means) Act, 2024, is crucial in preserving the fairness of public exams by combating malpractice. As Martin Luther King Jr. said,”Intelligence plus character—that is the goal of true education,” emphasizing the importance of integrity alongside academic success.