On Friday, the Union Cabinet approved the draft legislation to curb paper leak mafia. It will be introduced in Parliament on Monday. The new bill will replace Public Examinations (Prevention of Unfair Means) Act, 2024. The new bill has tough provisions. It proposes hiking the present three to five years maximum jail punishment to up to 10 years’ imprisonment for individual offenders.
For organized crime gangs, the sentence has been upped from 10 years to life term imprisonment. Fine for individual offenders, currently at Rs 10 lakhs, will be increased in the new law. In case of organized crimes, including exam authority or service provider, the jail term will be up to 10 years and Rs 10 crore fine. The proposed legislation is likely to bring coaching centres within its purview if they indulge in any malpractice. Simultaneously, the Centre on Friday terminated the services of 47 officials of National Testing Agency.
The NTA structure will be revamped completely. Reforms in NTA should have happened much earlier. Informed sources told me, the outgoing Higher Education Secretary Vineet Joshi, who was transferred on Thursday night, was not allowing others to interfere in his work. In a way, he was the “Champat Rai” in the Education Ministry, who wanted to keep all critical matters under his control.
The NEET-UG exam was held under the supervision of Vineet Joshi, and when the leak bomb exploded, efforts were made to bring changes in NTA, but the Higher Education Secretary put his foot down. Vineet Joshi was the first director general of NTA, when it was set up. He was the chairperson of CBSE and till Thursday night, he was the acting chairperson of University Grants Commission. With his exit, the reforms process in NTA has begun.
On the Prime Minister’s directions, three fast track courts in Delhi, Aurangabad and Nagpur have been set up for speedy hearing of paper leak cases. Why is a stringent law needed to prevent exam paper leaks? There is a long background behind this. First, NEET was introduced to do away with state level pre-medical entrance exams. Secondly, it was meant to put a brake on private medical colleges charging exorbitant capitation fees. Thirdly, NEET was meant to ensure admissions to medical colleges based on merit. The aims were lofty, but the execution had serious lapses.
The powerful coaching industry in India, which has a turnover of several thousand crores of rupees, did not allow NEET to become successful. Coaching centre owners wanted to make their students toppers in NEET exam, so that they could rip off the parents of candidates by showing them their success rates. The exam paper leak mafia was the output of the greed-infested coaching industry. This was the reason why the NEET system failed.
Those who leaked question papers were nonchalant. They knew that a soft law would allow them to come out of bail if they are caught. In the absence of concrete evidence, conviction was next to impossible. The stringent anti-paper leak law should have been enacted much earlier. There is a Persian proverb, “Der Aayad, Durust Aayad”. (It came late, but it came right).
Former Solicitor General of India Harish Salve told me in an interview from London in India TV’s ‘Aaj Ki Baat’ programme, that if Parliament is unable to pass this bill due to logjam, let the government bring an ordinance. Salve said, whatever may be the route, the new law must be enforced at the earliest, so that protesting students can realize that their movement has achieved something. This law is necessary to regain the trust of students, bring basic reforms in education system and put an end to the bane of exam paper leak. This is the only best option available.
While negotiating with CJP student leaders, the government did not display any arrogance. The talks went on smoothly. The ministers agreed to go to the venue where they were asked to come. They welcomed all suggestions relating to education reforms from the CJP leaders. The suggestions given by CJP leaders will now be reflected in the new law on the anvil. Students will regain trust in the examination system.
On Thursday night, the Prime Minister spoke directly to the youths on social media. Whatever the opposition may say, Modi’s video on social media made its impact. I checked and found that more than 35 crore viewers watched his video on Instagram, X and Facebook. More than 80 lakh people liked his video. On Instagram alone, 27 crore people watched his video and nearly 13 lakh people liked it. This was the reason why the Prime Minister advised his ministers to remain active on Instagram to connect with the new generation.
As far as Sonam Wangchuk is concerned, it appears that the opposition leaders wanted him to continue with his hunger strike. For public consumption, they were appealing to him to call off his fast. They wanted Wangchuk to continue with his fast. Those running the CJP also wanted the same because they knew that their movement would gain credibility if Wangchuk continued with his hunger strike. When Sonam Wangchuk was taken away from Jantar Mantar by police, the movement got a fillip, more crowds assembled at Jantar Mantar.
The student leaders knew the value of having Wangchuk with them . This is because of Wangchuk’s image. He was once slapped with National Security Act, he was branded a Chinese agent, but these charges did not hold water. That is why there is a basic difference between Sonam Wangchuk’s and CJP’s approach. Sonam Wangchuk is an experienced activist and education reformer. He refrains from having an ego on any particular issue. He first spoke about the welfare of students and expressed concern over the education system. He continues to have a practical approach.
CJP leaders are new but they reflect the sentiment of students. They want changes in the examination system. A beginning has already been made. One must understand, it does not make any difference to fundamental reforms if a minister is sacked or if he resigns. It is a good thing that the government has shown its seriousness on the paper leak issue. Changes have begun in NTA. This body will now be made more transparent and accountable.
The new stringent law will surely strike terror in the minds of those who indulge in paper leaks. The after-effects will be known soon. Finally, one must understand that the credit for whatever that is happening today goes solely to the student movement. It was because of the pressure from young students that the government became alert and switched to action mode.