PATNA: Bihar Assembly on Wednesday passed an anti-paper leak Bill by voice vote with an objective to deal with the menace of question paper leaks and other malpractices in the competitive examinations in the state.
Bihar Public Examinations (PE) (Prevention of Unfair Means) Bill, 2024 aims at checking malpractices such as the leak of question or answer papers. The bill has been passed against the backdrop of a major controversy arising due to the NEET-UG 2024 paper leak. Bihar has been at the centre of the NEET paper leak controversy. A number of accused from the state have been arrested by Bihar police`s EOU and CBI in this connection.
The Bill was tabled by state Parliamentary Affairs Minister Vijay Kumar Chaudhary and passed by voice vote amid walkout by the Opposition members. The Opposition staged a walkout to protest against the alleged deteriorating law and order situation and the denial of special status to Bihar by the Centre.
The Bill has strict provisions including a prison term of up to 10 years and a fine up to Rs one crore for those found guilty of involvement in irregularities in exams for both individuals and organisations. It also has a clause for attaching the properties of those found guilty and makes it difficult for people arrested for exam irregularities to get bail. All crimes under this law will be cognisable and non-cognisable.
People from all sections of society hailed the government’s move and said that if the new law is enacted strictly, it would curb malpractices in examinations. “The state has already earned name for frequent incidents of paper leaks and use of unfair means in the examinations,” said a political activist Rajiv Kumar Singh.
The leak of question paper of teachers recruitment examinations held by Bihar Public Service Commission (BPSC) last year created ripples in political as well as bureaucratic circles in the state. A number of people was arrested for appearing in the examinations on behalf of the candidates after promised hefty money for their ‘cooperation’.
The notorious Sanjeev Mukhiya gang of Bihar’s Nalanda district has been blamed for paper leaks of NEET-UG and teachers’ recruitment by BPSC besides recruitment of constables in the state police force. Nalanda, the native district of Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar, has emerged as a nerve centre of such unlawful activities.