MUMBAI: The Maharashtra government on Wednesday formed a high-level panel to recommend reforms to the state's examination system and study the Centre's recently passed law aimed at preventing paper leaks, amid repeated irregularities in recruitment and other key examinations.
Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis issued the directions at a special meeting held at his official residence, Varsha, which was also attended by Deputy Chief Minister Eknath Shinde, who made several suggestions, said an official release issued after the meeting.
The decision was taken in view of repeated paper leaks and irregularities in important examinations in the state in recent years.
The high-level panel will be chaired by Additional Chief Secretary, General Administration Department, V Radha.
State Director General of Police Sadanand Date, Secretary of the Information Technology Department Virendra Singh, Secretary of the Animal Husbandry Department Dr N Ramaswamy, and Nashik Divisional Commissioner Praveen Gedam will be its members.
The panel will visit each revenue division in Maharashtra and interact with stakeholders, including students, educational institution owners and other concerned parties, to seek their views on reforms to the examination system. The panel's recommendations will form the basis for a comprehensive policy for the state, officials said.
The panel will also study the Union government's recently passed anti-paper leak law, along with laws in other states, with the findings to be considered while framing the state's law and policy.
Though Maharashtra already has its own law on the issue, Fadnavis has directed officials to complete, within the next fortnight, the process of extending the more stringent central legislation to the state.
The chief minister also directed authorities to establish at least 25,000 secure classrooms across Maharashtra for conducting recruitment examinations.
The meeting also discussed defining the roles of district collectors, police commissioners, superintendents of police and senior Education Department officials in key recruitment, medical and engineering examinations to make the system more robust.
Meanwhile, Maharashtra Higher and Technical Education Minister Chandrakant Patil held a meeting with university vice-chancellors and asked them to prepare a standard operating procedure (SOP) to prevent examination paper leaks. The SOP will be based on guidelines issued by the Union government for higher and technical education.
Patil also asked vice-chancellors to meet 50 students every week to better understand their issues and concerns. The vice-chancellors must submit reports to the government detailing the problems raised by students and the steps taken to resolve them.
Notably, the Centre amended the Public Examinations (Prevention of Unfair Means) Act, 2024, and subsequently passed the Public Examinations (Prevention of Unfair Means) Amendment Bill, 2026, in July following nationwide student protests over the 2026 NEET-UG paper leak.
Under the law, individuals and organised networks involved in paper leaks can face five to 10 years' imprisonment.
It also provides for a penalty of Rs 50 lakh for individuals and up to Rs 10 crore for organised syndicates or service providers.
