New Delhi: The Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) will soon start verifying candidates’ documents through DigiLocker to ensure they are genuine. This was announced by UPSC chairman Ajay Kumar on Wednesday.
DigiLocker is the government’s cloud-based platform that allows secure storage and easy verification of official documents.
Kumar made this announcement during a virtual town hall, broadcast by Doordarshan, where he took questions from aspirants through email and social media. The interaction marked the start of the commission’s centenary celebrations.
This step, he said, will ensure that caste, disability and income certificates submitted by aspirants are genuine and issued by the rightful authorities.
About the issue of cheating in exams, Kumar said the commission had “zero tolerance to cheating” and went on to explain how a candidate, if caught cheating, is suspended from examinations for at least three years. In case of criminal misconduct, legal proceedings were initiated.
Referring to the case of former IAS trainee Puja Khedkar, he said: “Puja Khedkar is facing action. The strictest possible action will be taken as per rules.”
Khedkar, who was selected in the 2022 Civil Services Examination, has been accused of misusing OBC and disability certificates as well as changing her and her parents’ names to appear as a different candidate.
Her candidature for 2022 was cancelled in 2024, and she was barred from future exams. The Department of Personnel and Training later discharged her from the IAS after declaring her ineligible. She denies the allegations and is contesting the decision in court.
Kumar expressed the need for a new system and said: “Many times questions arise whether the certificates submitted have been issued by the issuing authority or not. We are going to soon start taking these certificates through DigiLocker so that the authenticity is maintained.”
The UPSC chairman clarified there are no current plans to change the age criteria or number of attempts. On the perception that engineering students hold an advantage, Kumar stressed that the exam is balanced, and pointed out that most engineers who succeeded in the UPSC opt for humanities subjects.
Kumar also dismissed suggestions of bias in selection and noted: “About 80-90 percent of the selected candidates come from Tier 2 and 3 cities and rural areas.”
