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India’s lower house of parliament has approved a bill imposing tougher penalties for exam paper leaks, following weeks of student-led protests that forced the resignation of the country’s education minister.
The legislation doubles the maximum prison sentence for those involved in leaking examination papers from five to 10 years and increases the maximum fine to more than $1 million.
Lawmakers approved the bill by voice vote after hours of heated debate, according to India’s public broadcaster on Wednesday. The legislation will now move to the upper house of parliament, where Prime Minister Narendra Modi‘s ruling alliance holds a majority. The cabinet approved the proposed changes last week.
The move comes after nationwide protests over leaked examination papers and other irregularities, culminating in the resignation of Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan on Saturday.
The demonstrations, led by the online Cockroach Janta Party movement, attracted widespread support from students across India and posed a significant political challenge to the Modi administration.
During the debate, opposition leader Rahul Gandhi said the protests reflected the frustrations of young Indians with the country’s education system.
He said the demonstrations represented a deep expression of concern from the country’s younger generation and urged political leaders to respect their demands.
“This was not anger… this was not hatred, this was a deep expression of the youth of this country, of the future generation of this country, and I feel that all political parties must respect this expression,” he said in a speech.
Despite India‘s strong economic growth, millions of young people continue to compete for a limited number of well-paying jobs, making entrance examinations highly competitive.
The intense pressure to succeed has fuelled a thriving coaching industry while creating opportunities for criminal networks to profit from leaked examination papers.
Although authorities have repeatedly cracked down on such practices, paper leaks have continued to affect both national and state-level examinations.
Protests in New Delhi turned violent on July 20 after demonstrators attempted to march from the Jantar Mantar protest site to parliament. Police used tear gas and batons to disperse the crowd, leading to clashes and multiple arrests.
