Amidst the controversy related to alleged irregularities in NEET and NET examinations, the country’s premier recruitment body NTA has said that it is taking the allegations of irregularities in NEET and NET examinations seriously. Union Public Service Commission has decided to use facial recognition and artificial intelligence-based CCTV surveillance systems to prevent cheating and impersonation in its various tests. It has recently issued a tender inviting bids from experienced public sector undertakings to develop two technological solutions – “Aadhaar based fingerprint authentication (otherwise digital fingerprint capturing) and facial recognition of candidates and QR code scanning of e-admit cards” and “Live AI-based CCTV surveillance “Service”– will be used during the examination process.
The Union Public Service Commission (UPSC), a constitutional body, conducts 14 major examinations – including the prestigious Civil Services Examination to select officers of the Indian Administrative Service (IAS), Indian Foreign Service (IFS) and Indian Police Service (IPS) – besides conducting several recruitment tests, interviews every year for recruitment to Group ‘A’ and Group ‘B’ posts in the central government.
It is estimated that 26 lakh candidates are expected to appear in this recruitment exam. This recruitment exam will be conducted at a maximum of 80 centers in Leh, Kargil, Srinagar, Imphal, Agartala, Aizawl and Gangtok and other major cities.
The tender document dated June 3, 2024 states, “UPSC attaches great importance to conducting its examinations in a free, fair and impartial manner. In its endeavour to achieve these objectives, the Commission intends to use the latest digital technology to match and cross-check biometric details of candidates and monitor various activities of candidates during the examination to prevent cheating, fraud, unfair means and impersonation.”
Accordingly, the Commission has expressed its desire to incorporate Aadhaar-based fingerprint authentication (otherwise known as digital fingerprint capturing) and facial recognition of candidates, scanning of QR code of e-Admit Cards and monitoring through live AI-based CCTV video surveillance.
The move is aimed at strengthening the examination process and eliminating the possibility of malpractice by candidates.
The selected service provider will use the data provided by UPSC for Aadhaar-based fingerprint authentication and facial recognition of candidates during the examination, as per the scope of work mentioned in the tender document.
It said, “Provision should be made for real time attendance monitoring system through secure web server. The system should have provision for real time monitoring of enrolment activity as well as GPS coordinates for each enrolment and time stamp to ensure that the enrolment is done during the scheduled shift.”
The Commission said facial recognition should be done in a completely stateless transaction of two images – one provided during online registration and the other taken on the exam day.
The UPSC said it has decided to implement CCTV/video surveillance with recording and live broadcast systems to monitor various activities of the candidates and other persons deployed for conducting the Commission’s examinations at various centres/venues across the country in a secure environment.
“The service provider is required to install adequate number of CCTV colour cameras in each classroom (minimum 1 CCTV camera for 24 candidates), entry/exit gates and control room (where the sensitive material would be stored and opened before the exam and packed after the exam) of each examination venue,” the document said.
The UPSC said the service provider will install one CCTV camera for every 24 candidates in each examination hall/room, “subject to the condition that at least one CCTV camera shall be installed in each room even if the number of candidates is less than 24.”
If there are more than 24 candidates in the examination hall/room, one CCTV camera will be installed for every 24 candidates, to ensure that the ratio of CCTV camera to candidate is not less than 1:24 and there are no blind spots.
The AI-based video system should also be able to generate alerts “if any movement is detected at the entry/exit gates during the exam,” and “if the furniture inside the classrooms is not arranged properly.”
The tender document states that it will alert the authorities “if the cameras are offline or have been tampered with due to masking or black screens,” “if there is any movement in the classrooms an hour before or after the exam” and “if the invigilator does not move even after the specified time/invigilator’s movement is detected.”
It said AI should raise red flags on incidents that indicate fraud, unfair means, absence of inspectors, etc.
The closing date for bid documents is July 7, 1 pm. The bids will be opened at 1.30 pm on the same day.
This move by the UPSC is important as the central government is facing criticism over alleged irregularities in the conduct of UGC-NET (University Grants Commission-National Eligibility Test). This exam determines the eligibility of Indian citizens for Assistant Professor and Junior Research Fellowship. Also, it is facing criticism over irregularities in the National Eligibility-cum-Entrance Test (Undergraduate) or NEET-UG (Medical Entrance Exam).
The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) is investigating allegations of irregularities in both UGC-NET and NEET-UG examinations conducted by the National Testing Agency.
The Union Public Service Commission (UPSC), a constitutional body, conducts 14 major examinations – including the prestigious Civil Services Examination to select officers of the Indian Administrative Service (IAS), Indian Foreign Service (IFS) and Indian Police Service (IPS) – besides conducting several recruitment tests, interviews every year for recruitment to Group ‘A’ and Group ‘B’ posts in the central government.
It is estimated that 26 lakh candidates are expected to appear in this recruitment exam. This recruitment exam will be conducted at a maximum of 80 centers in Leh, Kargil, Srinagar, Imphal, Agartala, Aizawl and Gangtok and other major cities.
The tender document dated June 3, 2024 states, “UPSC attaches great importance to conducting its examinations in a free, fair and impartial manner. In its endeavour to achieve these objectives, the Commission intends to use the latest digital technology to match and cross-check biometric details of candidates and monitor various activities of candidates during the examination to prevent cheating, fraud, unfair means and impersonation.”
Accordingly, the Commission has expressed its desire to incorporate Aadhaar-based fingerprint authentication (otherwise known as digital fingerprint capturing) and facial recognition of candidates, scanning of QR code of e-Admit Cards and monitoring through live AI-based CCTV video surveillance.
The move is aimed at strengthening the examination process and eliminating the possibility of malpractice by candidates.
The selected service provider will use the data provided by UPSC for Aadhaar-based fingerprint authentication and facial recognition of candidates during the examination, as per the scope of work mentioned in the tender document.
It said, “Provision should be made for real time attendance monitoring system through secure web server. The system should have provision for real time monitoring of enrolment activity as well as GPS coordinates for each enrolment and time stamp to ensure that the enrolment is done during the scheduled shift.”
The Commission said facial recognition should be done in a completely stateless transaction of two images – one provided during online registration and the other taken on the exam day.
The UPSC said it has decided to implement CCTV/video surveillance with recording and live broadcast systems to monitor various activities of the candidates and other persons deployed for conducting the Commission’s examinations at various centres/venues across the country in a secure environment.
“The service provider is required to install adequate number of CCTV colour cameras in each classroom (minimum 1 CCTV camera for 24 candidates), entry/exit gates and control room (where the sensitive material would be stored and opened before the exam and packed after the exam) of each examination venue,” the document said.
The UPSC said the service provider will install one CCTV camera for every 24 candidates in each examination hall/room, “subject to the condition that at least one CCTV camera shall be installed in each room even if the number of candidates is less than 24.”
If there are more than 24 candidates in the examination hall/room, one CCTV camera will be installed for every 24 candidates, to ensure that the ratio of CCTV camera to candidate is not less than 1:24 and there are no blind spots.
The AI-based video system should also be able to generate alerts “if any movement is detected at the entry/exit gates during the exam,” and “if the furniture inside the classrooms is not arranged properly.”
The tender document states that it will alert the authorities “if the cameras are offline or have been tampered with due to masking or black screens,” “if there is any movement in the classrooms an hour before or after the exam” and “if the invigilator does not move even after the specified time/invigilator’s movement is detected.”
It said AI should raise red flags on incidents that indicate fraud, unfair means, absence of inspectors, etc.
The closing date for bid documents is July 7, 1 pm. The bids will be opened at 1.30 pm on the same day.
This move by the UPSC is important as the central government is facing criticism over alleged irregularities in the conduct of UGC-NET (University Grants Commission-National Eligibility Test). This exam determines the eligibility of Indian citizens for Assistant Professor and Junior Research Fellowship. Also, it is facing criticism over irregularities in the National Eligibility-cum-Entrance Test (Undergraduate) or NEET-UG (Medical Entrance Exam).
The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) is investigating allegations of irregularities in both UGC-NET and NEET-UG examinations conducted by the National Testing Agency.
