India: Lawmakers endorse tough exam leak bill after protests

India's parliament has cleared a bill to update the country's anti-paper leak law by introducing tougher penalties for cheating and leaking questions in public examinations.

The move comes after youth-led protests — led by India's Cockroach movement — gripped the nation and forced the country's education minister to quit over repeated alleged irregularities in major exams.

Rajya Sabha — the upper house of the Indian parliament — passed the The Public Examination (Prevention of Unfair Means) Amendment Bill, 2026 late Thursday evening, a day after it was cleared by the lower house or the Lok Sabha.

The bill now needs the assent of President Droupadi Murmu before it can become law.

"This is an issue in which every parent, every family, and indeed every citizen of this country has a stake, because these young children are our greatest investment," said Union Minister of State Jitendra Singh, who was among the government's negotiators with the student protesters, told the Rajya Sabha.

The key provisions of the amendment bill include:

Opposition walks out as Rajya Sabha clears anti-paper leak amendment bill

The opposition has dubbed the anti-paper leak amendment bill a "cosmetic exercise" by the ruling government of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

On Thursday, opposition lawmakers walked out of the Rajya Sabha before the bill was passed.

Leader of Opposition in the Rajya Sabha, Mallikarjun Kharge, alleged that the Modi government introduced the amendment to pacify the country's agitating youth and not to address the issue of examinations.

"We welcome this Amendment Bill. But it is still incomplete," Kharge said.

"It strengthens the action taken after a paper leak occurs, but there is no robust system in it to prevent paper leaks from happening in the first place," he added.

Kharge raised demands for a fixed annual examination calendar and also called for a "National Youth Employment Strategy."

Education minister concedes to 'Cockroach' demands, resigns

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Modi hails amendment to anti-paper leak bill

Prime Minister Narendra Modi posted a late night video message following the vote, saying that the bill makes the country's examination system "more robust."

He described gangs leaking exam papers as "paper mafias" and said that those putting the future of India's students in jeopardy "will not be spared."

Modi's cabinet had given a go-ahead to the stricter penalties last week after protests called by the Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) shook the government. India's Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan was forced to resign on Saturday.

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