New Delhi, June 26 (IANS) The government has issued a notification authorising the Institute of Banking Personnel Selection (IBPS) to use of Aadhaar authentication, on a voluntary basis, for verifying the identity of candidates appearing in its examinations.

“The notification issued by the Department of Financial Services, Ministry of Finance, authorises IBPS to use Aadhaar authentication using Yes/No or/ and e-KYC authentication facilities, on a voluntary basis, for verifying the identity of candidates during examinations and recruitment processes conducted by it,” said an official statement issued on Thursday.

This initiative aims to promote good governance and strengthen the integrity of the recruitment process in the Banking, Financial Services and Insurance (BFSI) sector by preventing impersonation and other malpractices during examination, the statement said

It will ensure not only a fair and transparent recruitment process but also protect genuine candidates from being disadvantaged due to fraudulent activities. It will also simplify and expedite identity verification, reduce administrative burden and enhance public trust in the overall examination and selection system, the statement said.

IBPS is a designated ‘Public Examination Authority’ and the notification has been published under Rule 5 of the Aadhaar Authentication for Good Governance (Social Welfare, Innovation, Knowledge) Rules, according to the statement.

The notification has been issued subsequent to the authorisation by the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) after consultation with the Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI), the statement added.

The Staff Selection Commission (SSC), which makes recruitments for central government jobs, has already decided to implement Aadhaar-based biometric authentication in all its forthcoming examinations in order to verify candidates’ identity on a voluntary basis.

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

The new measure came into effect for recruitment tests conducted from May onwards.

–IANS

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