After UPSC, Centre allows SSC to perform Aadhaar-based authentication for candidates' verifications

New Delhi: The Centre on Thursday allowed the Staff Selection Commission (SSC) to perform Aadhaar-based authentication to verify candidates’ identity on a voluntary basis, both at the time of registration and during various stages of examinations and recruitment.

The move comes a fortnight after it allowed the Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) to carry out the similar verification.

In a notification, the Personnel Ministry said that the SSC is “allowed to perform Aadhaar authentication, on voluntary basis, for establishing the identity of candidates at the time of their registration on ‘One Time Registration’ portal and at various stages of examination/ recruitment test conducted by the commission, using Yes/No or/and e-KYC authentication facility”.

The SSC shall adhere to all relevant provisions of the Aadhaar (Targeted Delivery of Financial and Other Subsidies, Benefits and Services) Act, 2016, “the rules and regulations made thereunder, and directions issued by the ‘Unique Identification Authority of India’,” it added.

The SSC is one of the largest recruitment agencies of the government with its main mandate to conduct selections for non-gazetted posts in various central ministries and departments, among others.

The Personnel Ministry had on August 28 issued an identical notification, a first for any recruitment agency, to approve Aadhaar-based authentication to verify candidates by the UPSC.

Aadhaar is a 12-digit number issued by the UIDAI to all eligible citizens on the basis of biometric and demographic data.

These notifications are being seen as an attempt by the government to ensure that candidates do not fake their identity or use other fraudulent means to take recruitment examinations conducted both by the SSC and the UPSC beyond their eligibility.

Lakhs of candidates appear in such recruitment tests conducted across the country by the two bodies.

In a relevant development, the central government had on September 6, discharged Puja Khedkar from the Indian Administrative Service (IAS) with immediate effect, over a month after the UPSC cancelled her selection. She is facing a probe by the Delhi Police for fraudulently availing attempts in the civil services examination beyond her eligibility.

Khedkar has been accused of cheating and wrongly availing Other Backward Classes (OBC) and disability quota benefits to ensure her selection in the government service. She has denied all allegations.

Meanwhile in June, the UPSC also decided to use facial recognition and artificial intelligence-based CCTV surveillance systems to prevent cheating and impersonation in its various tests.

Through a tender document, it had invited bids from experienced public sector undertakings to devise two tech solutions — “Aadhaar-based fingerprint authentication (else digital fingerprint capturing) and facial recognition of candidates and QR code scanning of e-admit cards” and “Live AI-based CCTV surveillance service” — to be used during the examination process.

The UPSC conducts 14 major exams annually, including the prestigious civil services examination to select officers of the IAS, Indian Foreign Service (IFS) and Indian Police Service (IPS), besides a number of recruitment tests and interviews every year for induction to Group ‘A’ and Group ‘B’ posts of the central government.