Paper leaks
News Kashmir Analysis
Paper leaks in the number of competitive exams across the country is causing much uproar, as it is harming the future of millions of students in the country.
President Droupadi Murmu also in her presidential address to the Parliament observed crucial thoughts on the issue.
government, she said, is fully committed to investigating the recent incidents of paper leaks and ensure that the guilty are punished. As she made the remarks, cries of “NEET” were heard from the Opposition benches.
“Sanctity, transparency are a must in government recruitments and examinations. The government is committed to conduct fair investigation and ensure the most stringent punishment to those guilty in the recent incidents of paper leak,” she said, adding that there is a need to rise above “partisan politics” and take strong steps on the issue.
As a matter of fact, with the nation and political opponents clamouring over the NEET-UG paper leak case. The NET-UG and NET-PG examinations have also been postponed, giving the opposition ammo to double down on issues of youth employment – a talking point ahead of the Lok Sabha 2024 elections.
The president said Parliament has also made a strong law against paper leaks and is working towards major reforms in the exam process and the functioning of exam-related bodies.
“It is the continuous endeavour of the Government to provide right opportunities to the youth of the country to demonstrate their talent. Parliament has also enacted a strict law against unfair means in examinations.
In year 2023, Among the major paper leaks this year was the Hindi question paper of the Telangana Secondary School Certificate (SSC) examination getting out. WhatsApp was the primary medium for spreading the question paper once it got out, in this case.
In Telangana again a paper leak was discovered during the Assistant Engineer recruitment exam, which eventually led to its cancellation on March 5 that year, and candidates who appeared for the test were left in a lurch about their futures.
Assam saw papers of two subjects leaked during the High School Leaving Certificate (HSLC) exams. When the papers for General Science and English got out, the Secondary Education Board of Assam (SEBA) was forced to cancel the tests.
In year 2022, Uttar Pradesh, there was a leak during the Lekhpal recruitment exams, based on which the state would get its village accountant officers within the revenue administration. The police formed a special task force, arresting at least 21 across seven districts.
It is worth mentioning here that Not just NEET, but at least 64 other major examinations across 19 Indian states have been marred by incidents of question paper leaks since 2019, according to data analysed by India Today’s Open-Source Intelligence (OSINT) team.
One hopes that menace of paper leaks is curbed so that students are ensured bright future.
