Are all competitive exams capable of tackling fake candidates?

Mou Chakraborty
Kolkata, July 27, 2007
After the state police busted the racket of fake candidates taking WBJEE medical exam questions are now being raised on how safe are other competitive exams like IITJEE, CAT, UPSC and SLET.
IITJEE is the only exam in the country, which takes the fingerprints of the aspirants, but here too often fake candidates are caught. IIT Madras had to expel a student last year because an impersonator took the exam on his behalf; IIT Kharagpur too pulled up a student in 2006 with the same allegation but could not expel him because the charges were not proved. “Ours is one of the most secure system of examination. The response sheets have the students photograph along with fingerprint. This is because if the photograph is fake we can catch the student anytime on the basis of the fingerprint,” said Prof. A. K. Ghosh, Chairman of IITJEE eastern zone.
During the exam too the students have to sign he attendance sheet and give his fingerprint beside that. “Even though the same photograph of the student is used at every stage followed by his signature and fingerprint we ask the center’s to give us the names of the students whom they feel may be imposters and later we sent their finger prints to the forensic department,” said Ghosh. At one point of time the IIT’s had to deal with students who got fake admission offer letters as a result from last year the IIT’s have been issuing offer letters and letters for counseling with water marks. But even after such measures in 2006 a student in Madras IIT was caught with fake admission offer letter.
The Common Admission Test (CAT) is the most coveted examination for the students in the country who want to get into the IIM’s and become managers too though did not get fake candidates yet but had to deal with question paper leak in 2004. “After that incident the system of question paper setting has become unimaginably stringent. But the way WBJEE exam was taken by the fake candidates in that way any examination system could be taken for a ride,” said Prof. Ashish Bhattacharya, a member of the CAT group and chairman admissions of IIM Calcutta.
CAT has the system of photo identification in the application form this is scanned and put in the admit card as well as in the attendance sheet. But now after the burst of WBJEE racket CAT exam regulation may be reworked. “If the photograph given itself is fake like was done in WBJEE then becomes very difficult o catch a fake candidate. Hence we may ask the students to give us an attested photocopy of their voter ID card, or passports or driving license. However the final decision is yet to be taken,” said Prof. Bhattacharya.
The UPSC examination, which chooses the bureaucrats of the country as well as high-level officers in various government offices, too is not full proof. “After a candidate gets selected we cross check all the credentials given by him. Like his mark sheets are crosschecked with the relevant examination authority, his residential status too is checked and we have photo identification system to ensure that fake candidates do not take the exam. But then too we catch fake candidates at different stages of the exam,” said a high level official of Public Service Commission office in Kolkata.
The College Service Commission conducting the State Level Eligibility Test (SLET) for recruiting lecturers in the state colleges too is not imposter proof. Just two weeks back the commission issued notice against two newly recruited lecturers of Rishi Bankim Chandra College, Naihati to resign because they had hidden certain facts while taking the exam, which made their candidature null and void. Next SLET exam will begin on August 19 and 11800 candidates have enrolled for the exam, the commission this time will be extra precautious. “Apart from picture in the admit card we largely depend on allying the handwriting of the candidate to ensure no fake candidates take the exam. Though no system is full proof but even if some one manages to get through wrongly we point them out,” said Himangshu Ghosh, Chairman of the Commission. mou.hindustanimes@yahoo.com