UPSC: 92% of applicants choose Aadhar verification following Puja Khedkar scandal

Over 92 per cent of the applicants of the Union Public Service Commission Civil Service Exam (UPSC CSE) chose to verify their identity through their Aadhar Cards, a week after the commission launched its revamped portal with Aadhar verification enabled to use their Aadhaar for identity verification.

The new portal, which launched on May 28, is part of a larger effort to improve the application procedure for UPSC tests. Candidates must now register on the upsconline.nic.in portal in four steps: account creation, universal registration, common application form, and examination application.

As of Wednesday, the UPSC reported that 2.65 lakh accounts had been created on the new site, The Indian Express states. Of these, 1.13 lakh individuals completed universal registration, with 1.05 lakh selecting Aadhaar authentication. The common application form had been filled out by approximately 60,000 people, with another 55,000 forms still being processed.

“We are continuously improving the features and user-friendliness of the portal. The focus is on eliminating duplication — candidates won’t have to enter their information multiple times. Once submitted, it can be reused for various exams, improving their convenience,” Dr Ajay Kumar, Chairman of the UPSC said.

This is the first time the UPSC has used biometric authentication for its exam. In August of last year, the Department of Personnel and Training (DoPT) permitted the UPSC to conduct voluntary UID verification to verify candidates' identities.

The DoPT notification, released on August 28, 2024, authorised the UPSC to employ Aadhaar verification at the registration stage and throughout the examination and recruitment process, using either Yes/No or e-KYC authentication.

This followed the controversial case of Puja Khedkar, an ex-probationary IAS officer from the 2022 cadre who allegedly appeared for the exam despite exceeding the maximum number of allowed attempts. She was later discovered to have falsified several documents in order to receive affirmative action benefits.