10-year jail, Rs1 crore fine: India implements its anti-cheating law
Passed by the Indian parliament in February this year, the new law, Public Examinations (Prevention of Unfair Means) Act 2024, came into force yesterday
The Indian government enacted a new law last night (21 June) to check corruption in conducting exams by issuing a gazette notification.
The new law entails penal provisions such as ten years imprisonment and a monetary fine of up to Rs1 crore (around $119,674 dollars) for those involved in irregularities or corrupt practices while conducting examinations for college admissions or government jobs, reports The Economic Times.
Passed by the Indian parliament in February this year, the new law, Public Examinations (Prevention of Unfair Means) Act 2024, came into force on Friday.
The new law was enacted amid countrywide protests by several student associations and opposition political parties, including Congress, over alleged irregularities in the medical entrance exam NEET-UG and the UGC-NET.
Congress has already termed the new law "damage control."
"Clearly, this is damage control to deal with the NEET, UGC-NET, CSIR-UGC-NET, and other scams," Congress leader Jairam Ramesh claimed in an X post this morning (22 June).