UPSC likely to implement biometric authentication from June

The Commission had in June last year kicked off the project by inviting bids from public sector undertakings for “Aadhaar based Fingerprint Authentication/Digital Fingerprint Capturing & Facial Recognition of Candidates, QR Code Scanning of e-Admit Cards and Live AI-based CCTV Surveillance”, as per the tender document.

Following that, the Department of Personnel and Training had on August 28, 2024 notified that the UPSC was “allowed to perform Aadhaar authentication, on voluntary basis, for verification of identity of candidates at the time of registration on ‘One Time Registration’ portal and various stages of examination/recruitment test, using Yes/No or/and e-KYC authentication facility.”

When asked about the status of the project, UPSC chairman Dr Ajay Kumar told The Indian Express: “This will be launched for all exams starting in June itself”.

The UPSC conducts 14 major examinations as well as recruitment tests and interviews for Group A and Group B posts in the Union Government. As per its tender document, the UPSC called for Aadhaar-based fingerprint authentication and facial recognition of candidates and scanning of e-Admit Cards with QR codes to prevent impersonation, and live AI-based CCTV surveillance during exams to check for cheating.

The move comes at a time when the UPSC is facing scrutiny over the case of Puja Khedkar, the former IAS probationer who was dismissed from service last year following allegations of forgery and misconduct. The UPSC had in July 2024 cancelled Khedkar’s candidature for the CSE 2022 saying that she had appeared for the examination beyond the maximum attempts allowed and had applied under different names herself and of her parents. The DoPT then dismissed her from service. Khedkar has denied the charges and has contested the decision in court.

Following the case, the UPSC had examined the data of the number of attempts availed by over 15,000 recommended candidates from 2009 to 2023. “After this detailed exercise, barring the case of Ms. Puja Manorama Dilip Khedkar, no other candidate has been found to have availed more number of attempts than permitted under the CSE Rules. In the lone case of Ms. Puja Manorama Dilip Khedkar, the Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) of the UPSC could not detect her number of attempts primarily due to the fact that she changed not only her name but also her parents’ name. The UPSC is in the process of further strengthening the SOP to ensure that such a case does not recur in the future,” the UPSC had said in a statement on July 31 last year.