JAIPUR: "If an examinee or examiner indulges in unfair means in public examinations, he/she will be punished with an imprisonment of up to 10 years and a fine up to Rs 10 crore and will be debarred from taking part in any public examinations.
Also, if an investigating officer believes that any property belongs to the person involved in unfair means, the property will be attached," said the minister after the passage of the Rajasthan Public Examination (Prevention of Unfair Means) Amendment Bill, 2022.
Reacting to the Bill, deputy leader of Opposition Rajendra Rathore termed it a copy of the one passed by the Uttar Pradesh government. "The Bill is copied from the one passed by the Uttar Pradesh government. If the government of Rajasthan is intending to copy something, it should learn the ways of governance from UP. There is a provision of action under the National Security Act (NSA) in Uttar Pradesh. I believe coaching centres in the state need an audit as they are the ones who facilitate a candidate in clearing the exams. How can they promise guaranteed selection prior to the examination?" Rathore said.
Rathore alleged that the big fish in the REET examination leak racket were still at large and out of the total arrested 11 have got bail. Leader of Opposition Gulab Chand Kataria got emotional while sharing the pain of the aspirants who hope to get a government job. "Gareeb ka bachcha khet bechkar padhta hai aur yeh paise wale paper out karake naukari lag jaate hain (Sons of the poor sell their farms to prepare for competitive exams while the affluent use unfair means to get selected for government jobs)," Kataria said.
As per the provisions, any person taking unauthorised help in a public examination from any person, group or from any material, may face a jail term of up to three years and a fine not less than Rs 1 lakh. Kataria said that had the first arrest from Gangapur city in the REET paper leak not taken place, all the affluent people would have got government jobs.
State BJP president Satish Poonia alleged that members of Rajiv Gandhi Study Circle were involved in the REET paper leak and questioned why the state government had not recommended a CBI probe. "REET paper leak and copying was done under the patronage of the government of Rajasthan. Thus people have lost faith in this institution," Poonia added.
Sanyam Lodha, advisor to chief minister Ashok Gehlot, while opposing the Bill said the government had introduced it under pressure. "It appears that we believe that papers will continue to get leaked and thus brought a provision of 10 years of life imprisonment. I think the government should rather focus on developing a mechanism to prevent paper leaks," Lodha said.
