"There are stringent actions...": YSRCP MP Maddila Gurumoorthy welcomes Public Examinations Amendment Bill 2026
New Delhi, July 30
YSRCP MP Maddila Gurumoorthy extended its support to the recently passed Public Examinations Amendment Bill, 2026, in the Lok Sabha, stressing that the Centre aims to address state-level examination malpractices through this bill.
"We welcome this bill because in that bill there are stringent actions. Our concern is to cover state-level issues in this bill so that whoever commits offences at the state level is also punished properly," he said.
Earlier, the Lok Sabha passed the Public Examinations (Prevention of Unfair Means) Amendment Bill, 2026 by a voice vote after an extensive discussion.
Replying to the debate, Union Minister of State (Independent Charge) for Science and Technology; Earth Sciences and Minister of State in the Prime Minister's Office, Personnel, Public Grievances and Pensions, Atomic Energy and Space, Jitendra Singh said the amendments would further strengthen the legal framework to prevent unfair means in public examinations and safeguard the interests of students and youth.
Jitendra Singh said the Government remains committed to ensuring the integrity, transparency and credibility of the public examination system. He said the amendments reflect the Government's openness to incorporate constructive inputs, learn from experience and further strengthen the law in order to effectively tackle organised examination-related crimes.
The Minister noted that the Public Examinations (Prevention of Unfair Means) Act, 2024 was enacted to provide a comprehensive legal framework to curb unfair means in public examinations conducted by major recruitment agencies, including the Union Public Service Commission (UPSC), Staff Selection Commission (SSC), Railway Recruitment Boards (RRBs), Institute of Banking Personnel Selection (IBPS) and the National Testing Agency (NTA) for higher education admissions.
He said the Act had already made offences under its ambit cognizable, non-bailable and non-compoundable with stringent penal provisions.
Highlighting the key provisions of the Amendment Bill, Jitendra Singh said the punishment for persons resorting to unfair means has been enhanced from imprisonment of three to five years to five to ten years, while the maximum fine has been increased from Rs 10 lakh to Rs 50 lakh. For service providers involved in such offences, the maximum fine has been enhanced from Rs 1 crore to Rs 5 crore and the period of debarment from conducting public examinations has been increased from four years to eight years.
— ANI
Reader Comments
Good move by the government. As a student who appeared for NEET last year, I saw how stressful the whole atmosphere was due to rumors of leaks. This amendment will give genuine students like me a fair chance. But I wish they had introduced centralized monitoring for all state-level exams too, not just central ones. Still, a step in the right direction. 👍
I'm cautiously optimistic. The 2024 Act was good on paper but the problem was that state exams like TSPSC, APPSC, and BPSC kept having leaks because they were outside the purview. Now if this bill actually covers state-level paper leaks, we might finally see some justice. But I worry about false cases - innocent people could be framed. Need proper investigation mechanisms too.
As a teacher in a govt school in rural Karnataka, I've seen how students from poor backgrounds get cheated when exams are compromised. They work hard but lose out to those who buy papers. This bill gives me hope. But the government must also focus on improving exam infrastructure - many rural centers still have weak invigilation. Laws alone won't solve everything. 🙏
Good to see bipartisanship on this issue. But I'm skeptical - we've seen many bills passed with great fanfare but zero implementation. The 2024 Act already had provisions but leaks continued. What's different this time? The increased fines and imprisonment are welcome, but we need a dedicated anti-cheating task force with cyber experts. Otherwise this remains another piece of paper.
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