There has been no incident of paper leak reported in the recruitment examinations conducted by the Union Public Service Commission (UPSC), Staff Selection Commission (SSC), Railway Recruitment Board (RRB) and Institute of Banking Personnel Selection (IBPS), during the last two years, the Rajya Sabha was informed on Thursday.

“Recently, National Testing Agency (NTA) conducted NEET(UG) examination on May 5, 2024 in OMR (Pen and paper) mode. Certain cases of alleged irregularities/cheating/impersonation/malpractices were reported,” Union Minister of State for Personnel Jitendra Singh said in a written reply.

After review, the matter was entrusted to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) for comprehensive investigation on June 22, 2024, he said.

“No incidence/event of paper leakage has been reported in the recruitment examinations conducted by Union Public Service Commission (UPSC), Staff Selection Commission (SSC), Railway Recruitment Board (RRB) and Institute of Banking Personnel Selection (IBPS), during the last two years,” Singh said.In order to provide for prevention of unfair means in public examinations, the Government has enacted the Public Examination (Prevention of Unfair means) Act, 2024, which has been brought into force vide and subsequently rules under this law have also been notified, he added.The Minister also informed the Upper House that the National Recruitment Agency (NRA) is conducting a detailed study of the prevalent recruitment systems in central and State Governments to conduct a free and fair examination.

The NRA, mandated to conduct online examinations to screen Government job aspirants, was given an approval in 2020 by the Union cabinet.

“NRA is conducting a detailed study of the prevalent recruitment systems in central and State Governments and the procedure followed by various Public Examination Authorities (PEAs) for conduct of examination and also examining the issues which are likely to arise in the new examination system and address them ab initio so as to conduct a free and fair examination,” Singh said in a written reply. The Minister was responding to a query whether the NRA has conducted any recruitment tests since its inception. Singh said the NRA is also in the process of developing protocols and policy frameworks to address various issues associated with conduct of the new examination system as well as evolving effective means for ensuring compliance of normative standards and guidelines by all concerned.He said four Governing Body meetings have been held since the inception of the NRA, which functions from its headquarters at New Delhi.