All upcoming exams to be under anti-copying Ordinance: Dhami amid protests over paper leaks

Dehradun (Uttarakhand) [India], February 10 (ANI): Amid protests by jobless youth against the BJP government over alleged paper leak incidents, Uttarakhand Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami on Friday said all upcoming exams will be conducted under an anti-copying ordinance of the state.
"We had said earlier that we will bring an anti-copying Ordinance. But a slight delay in convening a Cabinet meeting slowed the process of bringing the Ordinance. However, despite not being able to hold a Cabinet discussion on the same, we have forwarded the anti-copying ordinance to the Governor (for his assent)," the CM said.
He added that all state examinations will henceforth be covered by this Ordinance.
"We have made the strictest law possible (to check paper leaks). Apart from punishment of up to life imprisonment, this Ordinance also has a provision of fines of upto Rs 10 crore," the CM said.
The CM's statement came a day after protests broke out over alleged leak question papers for government exams.
Dhami said, "We are comitted to safeguarding the interest of our students at any cost. This is precisely why the government immediately cancelled the examinations in which irregularities were found and declared new dates."
On Thursday, youth from the Berozgar Sangh, an outfit of jobless persons in the state, staged a protest at the main Rajpur Road of Dehradun, demanding a CBI inquiry into irregularities in recruitment.
The protests took a violent turn after the agitators came to blows with police personnel who had arrived at the scene to enforce order.
According to police, the protestors pelted stones at them and damaged their vehicles during the demonstration.
The police arrested 13 protesters, including the president of Berozgar Sangh, Bobby Panwar, in connection with alleged stone pelting during the demonstration.
A total of 15 policemen were also injured in the alleged stone pelting incident.
"The students were only demanding a robust exam system. No employment opportunities are being created by the BJP government and on top of this, we now have the paper leaks, leading to cancellation of exams. When students erupted in protest, they were baton-charged. This is unfortunate. The CM must speak with the protesting jobless youths," veteran Congress leader and former CM Harish Rawat told reporters on Friday.
Dhami, meanwhile, directed the chief secretary to conduct a detailed magisterial inquiry into the law-and-order situation during the demonstration and also probe the alleged lathi charge.
After checking all the facts and circumstances of the incident, a detailed inquiry report will be submitted to the government, sources said.
"The Chief Minister has directed the chief secretary to get a detailed magisterial inquiry done into the law and order situation and the entire sequence of events leading to the lathi charge," the CM office said.
"After checking all the facts and circumstances, the inquiry officer will make a detailed inquiry report and send it to the government," it added. (ANI)