Warning to PU students: Use social media cautiously during exams; possession of paper may result in 5-year jail

The Department of Pre-University Education (DPUE) is taking all necessary steps to prevent the leakage of question paper and curb the fake question paper mafia that fool students and make money during examination period.

A senior official said that the department will begin to caution students to use social media carefully. It will soon issue a circular asking colleges across the State to conduct parent-teacher meetings to educate them on the consequences of getting involved in paper leakage.

According to the Karnataka Education (Amendment) Act 2017, amended last year, any person involved in buying, selling, or procuring or inducing a person to get the question paper through any means will be penalised. Students possessing the question paper may also land in the soup. The maximum penalty may extend to imprisonment of up to five years or a fine, which may extend to Rs. 5,00,000, or both.

This is for the first time that the rules will be enforced as the amendment came into force midway when the 2017 examinations had commenced.

An official said the purpose of the exercise is to ensure that students are careful.

“Students may get messages on social media, such as WhatsApp, during exam time. We want students to report these matters to their principals, who should in turn, report it to the department so that the authenticity of the papers can be examined. Very often, many of these papers doing the rounds are false ones,” the official added.