Bhubaneswar: Odisha cabinet, chaired by chief minister Mohan Majhi, on Wednesday approved a proposal to introduce a Bill making the use of unfair means in various recruitment and entrance examinations of the state a punishable offence with a jail term of three to five years.
Under the Odisha Public Examinations (Prevention of Unfair Means) Bill 2024, cleared by the cabinet, the govt plans to make the use of unfair means such as question paper leaks, helping examinees, tampering with answer sheets, and wilful violation of norms in the examinations a cognizable, non-bailable, and non-compoundable offence.
Briefing media persons after the cabinet meeting, chief secretary Manoj Ahuja said the provisions in the proposed Odisha Act are similar to the Centre’s Public Examinations (Prevention of Unfair Means) Act, 2024. The aim is to prevent any unfair means at the individual or institutional level.
Sources said the Bill is likely to be introduced in the coming winter session of the Odisha Vidhan Sabha, scheduled from Nov 26. The Bill aims to check impersonation, cheating, disruption of the examination process, leakage of information relating to examinations, and maintain the integrity of examinations. The proposed Bill will be applicable to examinations conducted by recruitment agencies such as the Odisha Public Service Commission, Odisha Staff Selection Commission, Odisha Subordinate Staff Selection Commission, Service Selection Board, and Odisha Police Selection Board, among other recruitment agencies. It will also apply to entrance examinations conducted by Odisha Joint Entrance Examination authorities.
A govt statement said service providers involved in the examination process, if found guilty, will be liable for a fine of up to Rs one crore and will have to bear the cost of the entire examination conducted by them, similar to provisions of the Central Act. They would be debarred from holding any future examinations. The govt plans to impose additional punishment for non-payment of fines as per provisions of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023. The Centre had enacted the Public Examinations (Prevention of Unfair Means) Act amid uproar over alleged malpractices in NEET examination earlier this year.