UPSC candidate debarred for 3 years for resorting to unfair means in govt job test

Making a reference to the action with news agency PTI, UPSC Chairman Ajay Kumar said, the Commission is completely committed to upholding the highest levels of integrity, transparency, and fairness in its examination processes.

A woman has been debarred for three years from appearing for government job recruitment exams after she allegedly cheated during a Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) exam, officials added on Friday. Her candidature for this year's exam also stands cancelled. The candidate was found with incriminating material during one of their recruitment tests of UPSC, the LinkedIn post mentioned.

"As the candidate has been guilty of violating the rules of the Examination under the rule of the examination - 12(1)(h) 'being in possession of or using unfair means during the examination,' read the post.".

"Accordingly, UPSC has invoked stern disciplinary action in terms of standardisation of punishment by cancelling the candidature for this year's examination and debarred the person from appearing in all future examination(s)/selection(s) to be conducted by the Commission for a period of 3 years," the Commission said in a LinkedIn post.

Discussing the relocation with news agency PTI, UPSC Chairman Ajay Kumar further said, the Commission is steadfastly committed to upholding the highest levels of integrity, transparency, and fairness in its examination processes.

"Any candidate found guilty of using unfair means or misconduct during examinations is dealt with severe disciplinary action according to rules, including debarment for future examinations, as the most severe of actions," he asserted.

Kumar emphasized that these actions are necessary to uphold the integrity of the selection process and merit must be the sole basis of recruitment in government services.

"This is the sole reason why UPSC, for the past 100 years, has been a model of merit and a fair system, and candidates from any stratum can become selected, purely on the basis of merit, as per the selection process," he furthered.

Last year, the UPSC had taken a number of steps against former ex-probationary IAS officer Puja Khedkar, including filing a criminal case, after discovering that she had allegedly misrepresented herself to sit for the civil services exam. She is charged with fraudulently availing herself of benefits under the Other Backward Class (OBC) and disability reservations in order to join the Indian Administrative Service (IAS).