The Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) has taken a pivotal step to address issues like the recent controversy surrounding trainee IAS officer Puja Khedkar by securing authorization from the central government to use Aadhaar card verification for identifying candidates during different stages of registration and recruitment examinations. However, this verification will be voluntary.
The Ministry of Personnel and Training has issued a notification following the central government's approval for Aadhaar-based identification by the UPSC. According to the notification, UPSC will now be able to use Aadhaar authentication on a voluntary basis for one-time registration and for identifying candidates at various stages of the examination and recruitment process. Additionally, the E-KYC authentication facility will be employed to support this process.
The notification stated that the commission must comply with all the provisions of the Aadhaar Act, 2016, including the rules and regulations established under it, as well as the directives issued by the Unique Identification Authority of India.
Last month, the UPSC canceled the candidature of trainee IAS officer Puja Khedkar and barred her from participating in any future examinations due to attempted cheating. Puja Khedkar faces multiple charges, including forging disability certificates and falsifying OBC non-creamy layer certificates.