Arunachal: Rs 1 cr fine not enough says PAJSC VC Tadak Nalo on provisions of Examination Act 2024

Nalo said that Rs one crore penalty for a person involved in a paper leak case is very less.

Reported by Marina Dai

Tadak Nalo, Vice Chairman of the Pan Arunachal Joint Steering Committee (PAJSC) today termed provisions of the Arunachal Pradesh Examination (Measures for Prevention of Unfair Means in Recruitment) Act 2024 including fine of Rs one crore as inadequate and said what is needed is Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs).

The draft bill that incorporates stringent penalties including a jail term and fine of upto Rs one crore in case anyone is found indulging in malpractices like leaking question papers, was passed by the Arunachal Cabinet yesterday.

“The draft bill does not have strong provisions and the current provisions of the Act are inadequate. Rs one crore penalty for such a big crime is very less. It should be more than one crore.” he said.

Referring to the Uttarakhand Competitive Examination (Measures for Prevention and Redressal of Unfair Means in Recruitment) Ordinance, which talks of a life sentence and a fine of up to Rs 10 crore to those facilitating cheating (or paper leak), Nalo said that penalties should be of such magnitude.

He said, “After the draft bill was presented in March 2023, we have submitted a suggestion requesting to add a few more strong provisions on June 2023. We have requested that a provision should be there in the Act which states that ‘No examination to be conducted by any recruiting agency/body without a proper framework of SOP. We have also asked for time bound investigations in such cases and much more. However, we have not yet seen any such clauses in the act.”

Arunachal Pradesh Cabinet chaired by Pema Khandu approved the enactment of the act to prevent and curb the offences related to question papers leaks and other malpractices during the recruitment examinations conducted by various recruitment agencies in the state.

The legislation will be presented during the upcoming session of the 8th Arunachal Pradesh Legislative Assembly starting July 19, 2024.

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