Ineligible Candidates? UPSC Gets Help From AI

The technology-driven exercise resulted in the rejection of 569 applications for the Civil Services (Preliminary) Examination 2026 after the candidates were found ineligible on account of excess attempts, age-limit violations, or submission of multiple applications under different identities.

“By moving the verification process to the beginning of the recruitment cycle, the UPSC aims to prevent misuse of the system, improve transparency, and ensure a level playing field for genuine aspirants,” an official privy to the development told The Secretariat.

According to UPSC data, 8.18 lakh candidates registered for the Civil Services Examination (CSE) 2026, while around 5.49 lakh appeared for the Preliminary Examination conducted on May 24. The number of registrations declined compared to the previous year, when nearly 9.5 lakh candidates had applied.

Officials believe stricter verification measures, including Aadhaar authentication and AI-driven de-duplication checks, may have contributed to the reduction in applications by eliminating duplicate and ineligible entries at an early stage.

Learning From A Controversy

Traditionally, the Commission verified the eligibility of candidates only at the interview stage, after they had already cleared the two stages - the Preliminary and Main examinations.

The move comes in the wake of the high-profile Puja Khedkar controversy, which exposed vulnerabilities in the Commission’s verification mechanisms. 

Khedkar, a trainee IAS officer, was dismissed from service in 2024 after investigations found that she had allegedly exhausted the maximum number of attempts permitted under UPSC rules but continued appearing for the examination by altering personal details, including her name and her parents’ names.

Following the revelations, the UPSC cancelled her candidature and initiated a series of corrective measures to prevent similar instances of fraud. The AI-powered verification exercise introduced for the 2026 examination is being seen as one of the most consequential outcomes of those reforms.

Strengthening Verification

One of the major changes introduced this year was Aadhaar-based authentication through UPSC’s newly developed online application portal. Nearly 94% of applicants voluntarily opted for Aadhaar verification, allowing the Commission to establish unique identities and significantly reduce the possibility of duplicate registrations.

For candidates who chose not to undergo Aadhaar authentication, the UPSC turned to AI-based scrutiny. Approximately 49,000 applicants fell into this category and were subjected to a detailed digital verification process designed to identify duplicate, suspicious, or potentially fraudulent applications.

The AI system analysed multiple parameters, including candidates’ names, parents’ names, birth dates, photographs and historical examination records. The officials said the technology was capable of detecting subtle patterns and similarities that could easily escape manual scrutiny. This enabled the Commission to identify individuals who had submitted multiple applications using slightly altered personal details in an attempt to bypass eligibility checks, they added.

Using UPSC Database

A key feature of the initiative was the use of UPSC’s extensive historical database. AI tools examined records spanning the past 15 years to verify candidates’ previous appearances in the Civil Services Examination. The system cross-checked the number of attempts already used, age eligibility, category-wise attempt limits, and earlier registration details.

The AI-led scrutiny was not confined to the Civil Services Examination alone. The UPSC also implemented a similar verification process for the Indian Forest Service (IFoS) Examination, which was conducted on the same day as the Civil Services Preliminary Examination. The exercise led to the identification and rejection of 69 ineligible candidates.

UPSC Chairman Ajay Kumar has reportedly described the initiative as a critical step toward safeguarding fairness in the examination process. Emphasising the role of technology in maintaining the credibility of the recruitment system, he said the Commission had undertaken a de-duplication exercise at the Preliminary Examination application stage to ensure that every genuine candidate was accurately identified, while fraudulent and multiple applications were detected and eliminated.

Kumar said, “The verification process relied on secure comparisons with UPSC’s existing databases and was conducted while ensuring complete protection of candidates’ personal information,” and underlined that technology would continue to play an increasingly important role in strengthening the integrity and efficiency of the Commission’s examination systems.

Aligning With Tech Push

By identifying ineligible candidates before they enter the examination process, the Commission can save substantial administrative resources, reduce the burden of post-examination verification, and prevent disputes arising at later stages of recruitment.

More importantly, the initiative seeks to reinforce public confidence in the fairness of India’s premier civil services recruitment examination. For lakhs of aspirants, who spend years preparing for the Civil Services, stricter verification measures are expected to ensure that opportunities are reserved for genuinely eligible candidates and attempts to manipulate the system are detected early.

The reform also aligns with the government’s broader push toward technology-driven governance, data-based decision-making, and fraud prevention across public institutions.