Cheating in exams, especially ones that could lead to jobs in the public sector, has reached epidemic proportions in India, and the means employed by young people in order to cheat compete with the methods employed by examiners to stop them. During a written recruitment test for entry into the Indian army held in the Bihar state, candidates has to strip down to their underwear in order to prevent any attempt to cheat.

After studying for two years to be a teacher, one student found out that the degree her school offers is worthless. It is a story being replayed across many Indian cities. Poorly regulated, unaccredited and often entirely fake colleges have sprung up as demand for higher education accelerates, driven by rising aspirations and a bulging youth population.

Over 100,000 fake certificates of various Indian universities have been found in a Bihar town. The absence of industries and other business opportunities forces young men and women in Bihar to apply for jobs in government-run schools and also resort to fake certificates. Only two days ago, the government had rejected more than four million applications to check a fake degree racket and other irregularities during a teacher recruitment drive for government-run schools.