On Wednesday, the Central Government for the first time allowed the Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) to use Aadhaar-based authentication to verify the identity of candidates at the time of registration and during various stages of examinations and recruitment. However, this Aadhaar-based authentication will currently be voluntary. The Personnel Ministry has said that UPSC will follow all the provisions of the Aadhaar Act and will also take into account all the rules and guidelines laid down by the Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI). The Commission has taken this step in the wake of the Pooja Khedkar fraud case. Last month, UPSC cancelled the candidature of IAS trainee officer Pooja Khedkar and barred her from appearing for all future exams. Khedkar is also accused of misusing the disability and other backward classes or OBC (non-creamy layer) quota, among other charges. By changing her identity, she appeared for the Civil Services examination more times than the UPSC limit.
The Personnel Ministry said in a notification that UPSC may conduct Aadhaar-based authentication on a voluntary basis at the time of registration on the ‘Single Registration’ portal and for verifying the identity of candidates at various stages of the recruitment examination and test, for which Yes/No or/and e-KYC authentication facility will be used.
According to a Times of India report, after UPSC, the Staff Selection Commission (SSC) may also take this step regarding its recruitment exams.
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Earlier in July, UPSC had floated a tender which revealed that the commission will use the latest digital technology to prevent cheating, use of unfair means and monitor various activities of candidates during the exam. Included in this were things like AI-based CCTV, facial recognition, QR code scanning and e-admit card scanning. After the Pooja Khedkar cheating case and the NEET UG controversy, the Commission decided to change the security procedure of the exams.
UPSC conducts around 14 recruitment exams every year including the civil services exam in which thousands of candidates appear.
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