In the last one year, more than a dozen major paper leaks have been reported which affect lakhs of students all over India. Paper leaking is being one of the major problems in education system which we are facing in present time. It has been defeating our education system impelling the nation to believe that corruption pays dividends. It indicates that we have a fragile democracy, a brainless bureaucracy and incompetent administrators who are least bothered about our future. Question paper leakages are occurring in almost all levels, from primary to higher job tests. They occur uninterruptedly as well as simultaneously and are ruining the backbone of the nation.
Recently the question papers of AIPMT exam, which was held on 3rd May, 2015 across 1,050 centers across the country, are leaked. According to a report, 90 answer keys were leaked electronically to the pursuing candidates in return for Rs 15 -20 lakh. The Rohtak police have unveiled this crime and arrested seven people, including an MBBS student and two doctors for the alleged wrongdoing. Arrested people revealed that in order to facilitate the transmission of answer keys, they arranged special vests which were fitted with micro SIM cards and Bluetooth devices. The same group was also involved in the leakage of AIIMS exam – 2012, using similar modus operandi. As a result, the Supreme Court asked the CBSE to re-conduct the examination and declare the result positively by 17 August.
But does this step is enough to stop such criminal actions? Will this step encourage the students again to appear in major exams? Will it regain the trust of those honest students on our education system who really wants to make their career genuinely? According to me, this is only a compensatory step. To stop such criminal offences, the reason behind such actions should be sincerely identified and strong steps should be taken against such offences.
Due to such unethical practice the quality of education has taken a bad hit and principles of healthy competition are being affected. Leakage of papers has put an immense pressure on all students. It creates disbelief against the sanctity of the education system across the country. Now it is the time to strengthen our education system and make it free from corruption all illegal obligations.

Author: Payal Khandelwal