We have zero-tolerance policy towards cheating, use of fake certificates: UPSC chairman

New Delhi: UPSC Chairman Ajay Kumar on Wednesday said that cheating and use of fake certificates in any government job recruitment examination by the candidates is "unacceptable" and it can cause long-term career damage to them.

In a first-of-its-kind virtual town hall, he asked candidates to avoid "going that path", which may attract the strictest action, including debarment from appearing in any examination conducted by the Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) for three years.

"For UPSC, cheating is not at all acceptable. We have a zero-tolerance policy on this. And if anything like this happens, we take, and we will take strict action.

"We do not want children to start their careers to serve the country through cheating. I request everyone not to even look towards cheating because it can cause long-term career damage to you. Hence, please avoid going that path," Kumar said.

During an hour-long interaction, the UPSC chief talked on various subjects, including the utility of coaching centres in qualifying the civil services examination and the use of fake certificates by former Indian Administrative Service (IAS) probationer Puja Khedkar.

The Centre had last year discharged Khedkar from the Indian Administrative Service (IAS) for wrongly availing Other Backward Classes (OBC) and disability reservation to ensure her selection.

Kumar said any kind of cheating, "whether you get caught cheating in an exam or you fake anything or provide a certificate or manipulate your date of birth... the strictest action will be taken under the rules and regulations".

He said the Commission suspends such candidates for at least three years and they cannot appear for any UPSC examinations.

"If cheating occurs, a criminal FIR is filed and criminal action is taken against the perpetrator. And, you see, that action is being taken against Puja Khedkar. So, first of all, I would like to say that if anyone does such a thing, strictest action will be taken against them as per rules," the UPSC chief said.

He said the UPSC has integrated Aadhaar (in the application process) to prevent impersonation.

"We have implemented face authorisation at the entry of the examination centre," Kumar said, adding that the Commission is planning to start taking certificates of candidates through DigiLocker to maintain their authenticity.

He also discussed in detail the utility of coaching to prepare for recruitment examinations.

"This coaching issue is a huge issue. First of all, I would like to say that coaching is not mandatory for success in UPSC (exams).

"Its syllabus is such that if you study on your own, then you can clear UPSC (exams). Coaching is not an issue related only to the UPSC. We are seeing it happening in all the competitions, in JEE, NEET etc. This is a larger issue for us because it shows a deficiency in our education system," Kumar said.

The National Education Policy has tried to address this issue, he said, adding that "work has already begun on it, and I think much more work needs to be done".

Citing his own example of not taking any coaching, Kumar said every year, there are many children who succeed in the UPSC exams without coaching.

"Take their example. So, coaching isn't necessary. I believe," he said.

Kumar, who retired from the Indian Administrative Service (IAS) after serving for over three decades, said there's no need for any coaching.

"I believe self-study is the best study. I've always believed in that," he added.

Kumar said there is no proposal to change the cut-off date to determine the age eligibility for the aspirants or the number of attempts given for different recruitment examinations.

"There are many views about the number of attempts. Some say it should be increased. Some say it should be reduced... We don't have any proposal in front of us, nor do we have any such thoughts," he said.

On the issue of the Civil Services Aptitude Test (CSAT) paper, part of the civil services preliminary exam, he said it is only a qualifying paper and its marks do not count towards merit.

"So the marks you get in this are just to qualify, and how many marks are needed to qualify? The only requirement is a 33% score," the UPSC chief said.

Kumar cited the example of Mumbai's 'Dabbawalas' to explain the meticulous working of the Commission.

He said aspirants from almost every district apply for the civil services examination.

Over 12 lakh candidates apply for the examination, which is conducted in 23 languages (22 constitutional languages and English) and there are 48 optional subjects for aspirants to write papers.

"There are over 2,500 centres across the country, and each candidate has assigned their option. Getting the question paper of the subject of their choice... is a complex maze.

"In comparison, I would say (it is like) the Dabbawalas of Mumbai, as you might have heard, where each person gets their own tiffin. They don't get somebody else's. Similarly, every one of our students gets his or her own paper (as opted by him/her). Despite all this diversity," Kumar said.

He also shared "a UPSC secret" -- most of the engineering students who are qualifying are opting for humanities as a subject.

The majority of the engineers coming in are from non-engineering subjects, he said, responding to queries suggesting that the civil services examination is favoured for those coming from an engineering background.