New Delhi: Congress President and Leader of Opposition in the Rajya Sabha, Mallikarjun Kharge, on Thursday welcomed the Public Examinations (Prevention of Unfair Means) Amendment Bill, 2026, but said the proposed legislation remains incomplete as it does not provide a robust mechanism to prevent paper leaks before they occur.
Participating in the debate on the Bill in the Rajya Sabha, Kharge questioned why the government had not introduced the proposed reforms in 2024, alleging that the focus at that time was on the Lok Sabha elections rather than addressing the concerns of students.
He said that Rahul Gandhi had consistently raised the issue of paper leaks and the future of the country’s youth during the Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra. According to Kharge, instead of undertaking comprehensive reforms to the examination system, the government hurriedly enacted a law which it is now seeking to amend just two years later.
While welcoming the Amendment Bill, Kharge argued that it primarily strengthens action after a paper leak has taken place but lacks an effective framework to prevent such incidents in the first place.
The Congress President also placed several demands before the government, including:
- Introduction of a fixed annual examination calendar across the country.
- Constitution of an independent high-level committee under the supervision of the Supreme Court to investigate the alleged police brutality against students.
- Filling of vacant posts in the public sector and government institutions through timely recruitment.
- Holding Union Home Minister Amit Shah accountable and calling for his resignation.
Concluding his speech, Kharge recited a poem to underline the concerns of students over recurring examination irregularities:
“Those who stole papers kept escaping,
Those who toiled kept getting beaten.
What kind of justice is this?
What kind of custom is this?
The guilty kept laughing,
The innocents kept sobbing.”
He said the government must take comprehensive and credible measures to restore the confidence of students and ensure transparency and fairness in the country’s examination system.