Editorial: Curbing cheating menace

The success of the proposedanti-cheating law will depend on how decisively the agencies investigate the cases and book culprits

When organised cheating makes a mockery of recruitment examinations, the deserving candidates, who spend years preparing for them, are left frustrated. This will lead to the erosion of public faith in the system. The anti-cheating bill, passed recently by Parliament, is a welcome first step to tackle the menace but challenges are many, particularly in the area of enforcement. The Public Examinations (Prevention of Unfair Means) Bill 2024, containing a string of deterrent punishments for offenders, is a credible step to restore confidence in the examination system. Aimed at curtailing the unfair means in the public recruitment examinations and common entrance tests at national level, the Act proposes minimum three to five years of imprisonment for paper leaks and up to ten years for cases of organised crimes. These punishments are all aimed at collusions and disruptions that may facilitate cheating. They are necessary but not sufficient. According to media reports, at least 41 instances of paper leaks have disrupted the process of recruitment for government jobs in 15 States over the past five years. A staggering 1.4 crore applicants for about 1 lakh posts have been affected. While the central government is hopeful that the new legislation will serve as a model draft for the States, experts have raised concerns over inadequacies in enforcement machinery. The success of the proposed law will depend on how decisively the law-enforcing agencies investigate the cases and book the culprits. Credibility to the public examination system needs to be restored.

The role of coaching centres in manipulating the system and engineering the malpractices should be probed thoroughly. Question paper leaks and the use of unfair means for clearing competitive exams are an age-old menace. These malpractices disrupt the entire process, leading to cancellations or indefinite delays, and at times also entangled in court cases. However, a more dangerous case is when benefited candidates are selected over deserving candidates, the very purpose of the examination is defeated with students left demotivated. The recent Bollywood movie “12th Fail”, directed by Vidhu Vinod Chopra, effectively highlighted this problem. Cheating menace also turns the spotlight on widespread unemployment and the desperation to land a government job. Vulnerabilities are exploited to lure candidates into a trap. The significance of periodic hiring and timely results cannot be overstated. Several States like Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh have brought out their own laws to deal with the menace of paper leaks. A commonality of purpose warrants close coordination and cooperation among various stakeholders. The proposed national technical committee, tasked with enhancing the security of computerised testing processes, too, needs unqualified support. Also, there is a need to curb the tendency of overemphasis on government jobs and encourage a shift in attitude among job-seekers towards exploring other opportunities beyond government employment. This too will help curb malpractices to a certain extent.

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