The Public Examinations (Prevention of Unfair Means) Act, 2024 that has provision for up to five years’ imprisonment and a fine of up to 1 crore for malpractices and organized cheating in government recruitment exams was notified by the Union government and came into effect from June 21, 2024. The Bill had received assent from the President of India on the 13th February 2024. The Public Examinations (Prevention of Unfair Means) Act, 2024 mentions punishments for ”leakage of question paper or Correct Answer key”, ”directly or indirectly assisting the candidate in any manner unauthorisedly in the public examination” and ”tampering with the computer network or a computer resource or a computer system” as offences done by a person, group of persons or institutions.
Besides these, ”creation of fake website to cheat or for monetary gain”, ”conduct of fake examination, issuance of fake admit cards or offer letters to cheat or for monetary gain” and ”manipulation in seating arrangements, allocation of dates and shifts for the candidates to facilitate adopting unfair means in examinations” are also among the offences punishable under the law. ”Any person or persons resorting to unfair means and offences under this Act shall be punished with imprisonment for a term not less than three years but which may extend to five years and with fine up to 10 lakh,” said the Act.
A service provider, engaged by the public examination authority for conduct of examinations, shall also be liable to be punished with imposition of a fine up to 1 crore ”and proportionate cost of examination shall also be recovered” from it, according to the Act. Such service providers shall also be barred from being assigned with any responsibility for the conduct of any public examination for a period of four years. [Extracted, with edits and revisions from ”Act that Punishes Organized Cheating in Government Exams Comes into Effect” published in The Hindu dated 22-06-2024
Who among the following is not a service provider in the context of a public examination?
Correct Answer :
Coaching Centre which prepares students for passing in the public examination
Solution :
The correct answer is Coaching Centre which prepares students for passing in the public examination.
Step-by-Step Explanation:
1. Understanding the Concept of a 'Service Provider':
In the context of public examinations conducted by government authorities, a service provider refers to an external agency, company, or entity officially engaged or contracted by the public examination authority to assist directly in conducting, administering, printing, scanning, or managing resources for the examination process.
2. Evaluating the Options:
• Printing Press where the question paper is printed: This entity is directly contracted by the examination body to print papers, making it a service provider.
• The Software Company that manages the website: This entity is engaged by the examination authority to manage IT/digital infrastructure, making it a service provider.
• The Company which scans the OMR sheets: This entity is officially hired to process and evaluate candidate responses, making it a service provider.
• Coaching Centre which prepares students: Coaching institutes operate independently to tutor students. They are not engaged or contracted by the public examination authority to conduct or facilitate the examination itself. Therefore, a coaching centre is not considered a service provider engaged by the public examination authority under the Act.
3. Conclusion:
Hence, the coaching centre is not a service provider for conducting the public examination.
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