Use of unfair means will invite severe action including debarment: SSC warns candidates

New Delhi, Sep 11 (PTI) The Staff Selection Commission (SSC) has warned candidates that any attempt to indulge in unfair means will invite severe action, including debarment from its recruitment examinations.

In an advisory, it said the details of debarred candidates have been made public on the SSC website and shall continue to be published in the interest of transparency.

"The Staff Selection Commission (SSC) maintains a strict policy of zero tolerance towards malpractices in its examinations.

"Candidates are cautioned that any attempt to indulge in unfair means will invite severe action under the Public Examinations (Prevention of Unfair Means) Act, 2024 (PEA Act, 2024) and administrative measures such as cancellation of candidature and debarment from present and future examinations," it said.

The commission said "advanced technological solutions" have been deployed to detect cases where any examination node is taken on remote control in computer-based examinations.

At the registration stage, Aadhaar verification, locally-captured biometrics and facial recognition at entry and exit are used to identify impersonators, said the advisory dated September 10.

It said "CCTV surveillance and AI analytics are deployed" to flag cases of "swap after node allocation" in the examinations.

The SSC said CCTV cameras and AI-based analytics are actively monitoring to detect "passing of chits/unfair assistance in examination hall".

Candidates are being informed that during the course of any exam, whenever any such malpractice is detected by technological solutions, it is possible that the candidate's exam may not be interrupted by the invigilators in order to ensure that such activities do not disturb the other sincere candidates taking the exams honestly, it said.

"But, subsequently in respect of candidates indulging in such malpractices, based on electronic evidence, their scores will not be processed and action will be taken to debar them through laid down process," the advisory said.

It asked the candidates not to write down answers on rough sheets, with the intention of attempting all questions at once at the end.

"Such behaviour is detected as 'fast answering' by the system and will be suspected as malpractice," the commission said.

The candidates have been asked not to "speak to or peek into other candidates' computers" during the examination. They have been also asked not to lock Aadhaar biometrics as "biometric verification is mandatory at different stage".

"All candidates are once again warned not to indulge in any malpractice. The Commission is committed to ensuring fair and transparent examinations," the SSC said.

The SSC is one of the largest recruitment agencies of the central government, with its primary mandate to conduct selections for non-gazetted posts in various central ministries and departments, among others. PTI AKV RC