WITH the passage of the Bill to amend the Anti-Paper Leak law in Parliament, the Government has embarked upon a major reform in the examination system which badly needed a stringent ecosystem to maintain fairness. The Public Examination (Prevention of Unfair Means) Amendment Bill, 2026, saw a long debate in both Houses before it got the nod of the lawmakers amid walkout by the Opposition. The walkout was an unnecessary reaction by the Opposition after putting across their points in the debate for two days.

 

The amendments sought have already taken into account their concerns and with the Government saying it was proceeding on the major issues affecting students, the Opposition could have shown maturity in backing the Bill by putting aside their political biases. Yet, as has been their wont, the Opposition parties stuck to their political agenda despite being part of a significant moment concerning the education sector of the country. The Anti-Paper Leak law has harsh punishments for individuals involved in paper leaks and unfair means. The deterrents proposed in the law include longer jail term and hefty fine apart from provision of special fast-track courts, day-to-day basis trials and timeframe of three months from the date of filing of chargesheet to complete trials. The Bill has also empowered State Governments as well as Union Territory administrations to designate courts for fast-track trials. These steps are set to become powerful deterrents for all the perpetrators playing with youngsters’ education and future. It is a perfect start to correct the wrong that happened during the NEET-UG paper leak.

 

The country should back the new law and political parties should become a part of this reform instead of criticising it for the sake of opposition. While the punishments proposed in the Anti-Paper Leak law should send a message to those playing with the future of students, there is also a need for the Government to pick some of the issues that came up during the long debate in the Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha. Gist of the debate was on revisiting the entire education system and examination processes. While members from Tamil Nadu batted for abolition of the NEET examination itself, the majority of lawmakers called for removing the anomalies found during the paper leak investigation by the CBI. It is a subject of deeper interest for all the stakeholders as it focuses on the people involved in the process and their integrity.

 

The CBI probe has zeroed in on the major reason behind the paper leak which is involvement of the same set of individuals in setting as well as translation of question papers during the NEET-UG 2026. This lacunae was flagged by the CBI to the National Testing Agency as it studied the irregularities in 2024 and 2025. However, this aspect seems to have been neglected in 2026 as the paper-setter himself allegedly leaked the paper. In this light, the observation made by IIT Madras Director Mr. V Kamakoti needs serious deliberation. He pinned it on the integrity of the question paper setter which was the exact reason behind the NEET-UG paper leak this year. It is, indeed, an issue of morality of an individual. Yet, the government needs to keep it in the overall thinking to deny any opportunity to the question-setters to walk into an immoral trap. It can be achieved only through a watertight system which can pick from multiple paper-sets prepared by different question-setters. This is also a golden opportunity for the Government to look beyond technicalities of the examination process. It has a chance to revisit the entire system which still judges students on marks instead of aptitude and skill. The Government task force should also ponder over the need for an entrance examination after the Board examinations. There is a dire need for the education system to come out of a rigid mindset. Excellence cannot be confined only to marks in an examination. It can be an easy by-product of a stress-free system without peer pressure.