We have amended certain clauses of the Bill to include many inputs from various stakeholders, Jitendra Singh says. 

Mr. Singh said service provider fines in the previous anti-cheating law of 2024 have been hiked from up to ₹1 crore to up to ₹5 crore. Also, imprisonment of three to 10 years for directors and management in the previous law has been increased up to of ₹5 crore (up from earlier ₹1 crore).

The previous penalty of three to five years in jail and a fine of up to ₹10 lakh in the anti-cheating law of 2024 has been escalated to five to 10 years in jail with a fine of up to ₹50 lakh, Mr. Singh added. 

Imprisonment from five to 10 years (escalated from three to 10 years) and a fine of ₹5 crore (hiked from ₹1 crore) for in-charge Personnel under the proposed Bill.For organised crime networks, a minimum of seven years in jail (up from five years) and a fine of up to ₹10 crore (up from ₹1 crore) has been proposed in the new Bill, Mr. Singh said. 

NEP 2020 has given freedom to students, Jitendra Singh says in Lok Sabha. 

We have entry and exit options for different courses, and he can turn to literature or mathematics or any subject he wants to pursue. The old system turned students into prisoners, but we have liberated them with the NEP, Mr. Singh says. 

Speaking in the Lok Sabha, Jitendra Singh slams Priyanka Gandhi, says she misquoted data in Lok Sabha. 

Ms. Gandhi used wrong data to make a point in the Parliament, Mr. Singh said. 

“This government has come up with some great initiatives for education,” Mr. Singh added. 

Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi on Wednesday alleged that Home Minister Amit Shah had authorised police excesses against student protesters and that the RSS had “captured” the education system, triggering a massive uproar in the Lok Sabha during a debate on the bill to amend the anti-paper leaks law.

Read more here:

M. Thambidurai, the AIADMK MP from Tamil Nadu, says his party supports ‘The Prevention of Insults to National Honour (Amendment) Bill, 2026’, but expresses his disappointment that ‘Tamil Thai Vazhthu’ is being relegated to the third in priority by the current State government.

‘We are requesting that Tamil Thai Vazhthu be given first priority in Tamil Nadu,’ he says.

Responding to protests in the House, Speaker Om Birla says he cannot let Rahul Gandhi speak unless he maintains Parliament’s dignity. 

We have rules and regulations to follow in the Parliament, and I cannot let the House function if the rules are not followed. “We are violating the dignity of the House,” Mr. Birla alleges. 

Union Minister of Parliamentary Affairs Kiren Rijiju demands apology from Rahul Gandhi over his remarks on the Union Home Minister. 

Mr. Rijiju says the House cannot function until Mr. Gandhi issues an apology over what he said. 

Protests erupt in Lok Sabha over Rahul Gandhi’s statements about Union Home Minister Amit Shah. 

The ruling party is protesting over what Mr. Gandhi said about the Home Minister. The Opposition is protesting over letting Mr. Gandhi continue his speech. 

The Congress MP said the Home Minister authorised the shooting of the students during the protests. 

Leader of the Opposition Rahul Gandhi alleges that the Union Home Minister had “authorised the shooting of students”. 

Mr. Gandhi said the students raised “uncomfortable questions” that the Home Ministry was “too scared to answer”.

“Where is the Home Minister?” Mr. Gandhi asked before alleging, “The Home Minister authorised the shooting of students. The Home Minister ordered that the students of the country be shot.”

His remarks prompted immediate protests in the House, with Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kiren Rijiju demanding that Mr. Gandhi apologise for his statements.

The Education Ministry is captured by the RSS, the Congress MP says. “The RSS runs the Education Ministry. The students are not allowed to be students in India. They are not allowed to say what they want, or ask questions,” the Congress MP says. 

They are made to buy the nonsensical history the RSS sells, Mr. Gandhi says. 

Every major educational institution in India has an RSS worker heading it, Mr. Gandhi adds. 

Mr. Gandhi says the education system in India is extorting money from poor. 

Speaking during the discussion on the anti-paper leaks bill in the Lok Sabha, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh says the unparliamentary word used by Congress MP Rahul Gandhi should be removed from records. 

Discussion on the bill continues. 

Union Minister of Parliamentary Affairs Kiren Rijiju says Congress MP Rahul Gandhi used an unparliamentary language during the discussion on anti paper leak bill in the Lok Sabha. 

Mr. Gandhi used the word ‘idiot’ while seemingly referring to the ruling party and PM Modi during his speech in the House. 

The ruling party MPs protest over the usage of the word. 

Mr. Rijiju says Mr. Gandhi repeatedly used the word. Mr. Gandhi says he never referred to anyone specifically with the word. 

Leader of the Opposition Rahul Gandhi speaks in Lok Sabha. He lauds all the protesting students, saying, the future of the country is secure because of them. 

All the political leaders, regardless of the parties they belong to must appreciate the students for whatever happened in the country last week, Mr. Gandhi added. 

The education system is very expensive in India, Mr. Gandhi adds. 

Leader of the Opposition in the House Rahul Gandhi is slated to participate in the debate on the anti-paper leaks bill shortly. 

The government introduced the amendment bill on Monday, days after nationwide student protests over the NEET controversy culminated in the resignation of Dharmendra Pradhan as Education Minister.

The proposed legislation seeks to amend the Public Examinations (Prevention of Unfair Means) Act to provide for stricter punishment of up to 10 years’ imprisonment and a fine of up to ₹50 lakh for those involved in paper leaks.

The opposition has been raising the NEET paper leak issue since the Monsoon session began on July 20, disrupting proceedings and limiting legislative business largely to the introduction of two Bills.

-PTI

Kerala MP N.K. Premachandran, speaking during the discussion on the Public Examination Bill says, if Dharmendra Pradhan resigned as the Education Minister, then who is responsible for all the atrocities and brutalities that happened against the protesting students. 

“The police acted brutally against the protesting students in Delhi. The government of India is responsible for the paper leaks, and the corruption that is involved in the issue,” the Kerala MP says. 

Speaking during the Public Examination discussion Bill, Bihar MP Pappu Yadav says the paper leak issue should be taken very seriously.

None of the institutions in the country including the NTA, the CBI or the ED are accountable anymore, Mr. Yadav says. 

We should make sure we reduce human intervention in the testing procedure as much as possible, Mr. Yadav adds. 

There should be little to no government intervention in the examination process, the Bihar MP adds. 

We should follow countries like Japan, China and Singapore to make the whole procedure seamless. 

“This is the future of the country we are talking about. The government should take it very seriously,” he adds. 

Lok Sabha continues its discussion on the Public Examinations Amendment Bill. 

The Bill provides for harsher penalties and time-bound investigations into examination paper leaks. 

Read more on the Bill here: 

The Rajya Sabha was adjourned till 2 p.m., within minutes of meeting at 12 noon, as the Opposition pressed for Home Minister Amit Shah’s presence in the House.

This was the second time the Upper House of Parliament was adjourned on Wednesday. The first adjournment came around 20 minutes into the Zero Hour.

As the Rajya Sabha met for the Question Hour at noon, Congress MP Renuka Chowdhury questioned about the Home Minister, and was joined by other Opposition leaders in demanding his presence in the House.

“Where is the Home Minister? Call him here,” Ms. Chowdhury said.

“You fire at students...” she said, as slogans were raised demanding Mr. Shah to come to the House.

Following this, Chairman C.P. Radhakrishnan adjourned the House till 2 p.m.

-PTI

Lok Sabha Chair N.K. Premachandran says the Speaker has disallowed all the adjournment motions moved by several Opposition members. 

Mr. Premachandran says the House can continue with the proceedings for the day. 

Union Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kiren Rijiju on Wednesday took a jibe at Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi, urging him to dedicate at least five minutes of his speech to the actual merits and details of the anti-paper leak Bill.

Speaking to the reporters, Mr. Rijiju criticised the Opposition’s approach during parliamentary proceedings, saying that the government asserted that the legislation was brought in response to widespread demands from students to ensure fairness in competitive examinations. 

-ANI

Amid protests in the background, Leader of the Opposition in Rajya Sabha, Mallikarjun Kharge gets up speak. 

Amid din, he says, people are not safe in the country. “Democracy is not safe here,” he adds. 

I demand accountability, Mr. Kharge adds. 

Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla adjourns proceedings till 12 p.m. amid sloganeering in the the House. The Opposition is demanding the Home Minister’s reply on the police crackdown on students.

Mr. Birla requests Members of the House to maintain decorum.

As the sloganeering continues, the Speaker adjourns the House till 12 p.m. 

Leaders of the INDIA bloc from both the Lok Sabha and the Rajya Sabha is scheduled to meet on Wednesday morning at the office of Rajya Sabha Leader of Opposition Mallikarjun Kharge in Parliament to chalk out their strategy for the ongoing Monsoon Session. 

The meeting is scheduled to take place at 10 a.m. and will bring together leaders of the Opposition from constituent parties of the INDIA bloc to finalise their floor coordination and parliamentary strategy. 

-ANI

Congress General Secretary and Member of Parliament K.C. Venugopal on Wednesday gave a notice of adjournment in the Lok Sabha, seeking a discussion on what he termed as “massive financial fraud and embezzlement” of public donations at the Ram Mandir in Ayodhya. 

Mr. Venugopal demanded the suspension of regular business to address the alleged “sacrilege” and called for a high-level independent inquiry supervised by a Supreme Court judge. 

In the notice, Mr. Venugopal stated, “There is an urgent need to discuss the shocking revelations of massive financial fraud, theft, and embezzlement of public donations at the Ram Mandir in Ayodhya.

-ANI

Ahead of the parliamentary proceedings on Wednesday, Opposition members from both the Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha have submitted notices to suspend regular business to discuss issues ranging from electoral reforms to inter-state water disputes. 

In the Lok Sabha, Congress MP Manish Tewari gave a notice for an adjournment motion, seeking a comprehensive discussion on the necessity of a new Anti-Defection Law. 

Mr. Tewari argued that the current legal framework needs an overhaul to prevent mass floor-crossing driven by political opportunism. 

-ANI

Congress Rajya Sabha MP Syed Naseer Hussain on Wednesday moved an adjournment notice under Rule 267, seeking suspension of the day’s listed business in the Upper House to hold an immediate discussion on instituting a comprehensive independent audit into the accounts and functioning of the Shri Ram Janmabhoomi Teerth Kshetra Trust and on the existing framework of governmental oversight over the Trust.

In his notice submitted to the Rajya Sabha Secretariat, Hussain sought suspension of Zero Hour, Question Hour and other listed business to discuss what he described as the need for greater transparency and accountability in the functioning of the Trust. 

-ANI

The Rajya Sabha, MP Praveen Chakravarthy moved a motion under Rule 267, demanding the suspension of the day’s business to address what he termed a “misleading reply” by the Ministry of Jal Shakti regarding the Cauvery water dispute.

“I hereby give notice of my intention to move the following motion: “That this House do suspend Zero Hour and the relevant rules relating to Question Hour and other businesses of the day for an immediate discussion on the misleading reply given by the Ministry of Jal Shakti in this House on 27th July 2026 regarding the Cauvery water dispute, and on the Cauvery Water Regulation Committee’s order directing Karnataka to release 4 TMC ft of water immediately,” he stated in the notice.

- ANI