Safeguarding India’s future

The Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) has called for the use of smart cameras at examination centres and storage rooms where question papers are kept in an effort to curb malpractices such as impersonation, paper leaks and cheating. The cameras will relay live feeds and send alerts to a central control room to be set up at the UPSC headquarters. Officials hope to operationalise the new system in 14 major examinations conducted across 3,000 locations at 80 different centres in the country every year.

The proposal comes against the backdrop of two developments that have roiled millions of students this year. The first is the controversy surrounding former bureaucrat Puja Khedkar. The 32-year-old is accused of multiple counts of misconduct, including allegedly forging a non-creamy layer Other Backward Classes (OBC) certificate while her family commanded assets north of ₹40 crore, using fake addresses and falsified spellings to procure a disability certificate, and faking her age and date of birth to appear for the civil services examination more times than is permitted.

The second is the fiasco around the undergraduate edition of this year’s National Eligibility cum Entrance Test (NEET-UG). The botched process showed systemic lapses — unscientific marking amended under the glare of the Supreme Court (SC), grace marks that were eventually rescinded, leaked question papers in at least two places, and the so-called solver gangs paid to answer leaked papers — jeopardising the futures of candidates.

The installation of cameras is a good first step. But it must be followed by deeper interventions that go beyond technical fixes to address problems unearthed by the two controversies. For example, more robust oversight and checking of certificates in addition to tamper-evident packaging for question papers, secure logistics providers, enhanced identity verification to prevent impersonation, regular audits and surprise inspections should be considered. In addition, installing transparency at every stage of the exam process — as advised by the SC while hearing the NEET-UG case — should be on the table.

The past few months have mired India’s examination process in doubt and raised troubling questions about the systems used to select the people who carry the burden of taking the country forward. Systemic and structural reform of the exam process is needed to clear the air. India’s future must rest on the shoulders of the most deserving.

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