Overview
- Parliament last month enacted the Public Examination (Prevention of Unfair Means) Amendment Bill, 2026 to raise jail terms to five–ten years and fines up to ₹50 lakh for those involved in exam paper leaks.
- AISA national president Neha Bora and other student leaders say the law only punishes individuals and does not change how the National Testing Agency runs exams or how curricula favour certain boards.
- Weeks of nationwide student protests, including a long Jantar Mantar sit‑in and a 23‑day hunger strike by Neha Bora and Sonam Wangchuk, helped force the resignation of Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan.
- AISA is continuing a 'Gen‑Z Rising' tour and holding public events in states such as West Bengal and Jharkhand where activists reported incidents of repression, including an ink attack on Bora in Ranchi.
- Students are demanding measures beyond criminal penalties: they want the NTA scrapped, the NEP 2020 rolled back where it centralises tests, faster transparent investigations into leaks, and non‑repressive responses from political parties.