The Jharkhand government is going to introduce a bill to prevent paper leaks and cheating in competitive exams in the ongoing monsoon session of the Assembly, according to reports. The Jharkhand Competitive Examination (Prevention and Redressal of Unfair Means in Recruitment) Bill, 2023, will be a measure to crack down on the use of unfair means in competitive exams and also to prevent question paper leaks in the state.

The bill proposes strict punishment for cheating and paper leaks in competitive exams conducted by the Jharkhand government.

Any candidate caught cheating or using any unfair means during a competitive exam will be punished with three years imprisonment and a fine of Rs 5 lakh. On failure to pay the fine, the imprisonment will be another additional 9 months, the bill proposes.

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For repeat offenders, if a candidate is found guilty of cheating in an exam for the second time, the imprisonment will increase to 7 years and the fine will be Rs 10 lakh.

Additionally, after filing of the chargesheet, the candidate will not be allowed to appear in any examination for two to five years and on conviction the candidate will not be allowed to appear in any exam for 10 years.

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As per the Indian Express report, in case of involvement of any other person besides the candidate in cheating or paper leak in a competitive exam such as a printing press that prints the question paper, a service provider or a government employee found guilty will be prosecuted with imprisonment not less than 10 years and also be liable to pay fine up to Rs 1 crore.

The bill proposes a hefty fine of Rs 5 lakh to Rs 1 crore for those found guilty of paper leaks, according to reports.

The draft bill was recently approved by the state cabinet and the government is likely to pass the bill in the ongoing Assembly session.

Meanwhile, the opposition Bharatiya Janata Party and All Jharkhand Students Union (AJSU) Party have raised concerns over the provisions of draconian punishment.

BJP state president and Leader of the Opposition in Assembly, Babulal Marandi said that his party will oppose this bill as the strict provisions of punishment will destroy the career of students.

(Edited by : Sudarsanan Mani)