Sindh Public Service Commission has introduced a modern electronic attendance system to prevent impersonation and other forms of examination malpractice, and digital verification of candidates will now be mandatory in all of its future written examinations. The initiative was launched on the directives of Commission Chairperson Rizwan Ahmed and is aimed at making the examination process more transparent, secure, and reliable. Announced from Hyderabad, the decision places an electronic record at the centre of how candidates are admitted to examination halls, replacing the register and paper checks that have long been used at centres across the province.
According to the Commission, the system was tested successfully during the recently held Revenue Qualifying Departmental Examination, and its performance in that trial led to the decision to apply it to all upcoming descriptive written examinations. Computer based tests will remain outside the new decision, since an electronic attendance system is already in place for those examinations. Under the new mechanism, the attendance of every candidate will be recorded electronically at the examination centre, together with digital verification of his or her identity. The Commission said the arrangement will replace the traditional manual attendance procedure, and it is designed so that no unauthorised person can appear in place of a registered candidate.
Impersonation is one of the most serious problems in public recruitment, because a candidate who sends someone else to sit an examination can take a place that belongs to an honest applicant. Manual attendance is difficult to defend against this kind of fraud, since invigilators are required to compare faces and documents by eye, often in crowded halls and under time pressure, and records kept on paper can be altered after the examination. An electronic record that is created when a candidate enters the centre, and that is linked to a verified identity, leaves a trail which the Commission can review if a result is questioned. It also reduces the room for disputes about who was present in a given hall on the day of the paper.
A spokesperson for the Commission said the main purpose of the initiative is to protect the rights of deserving and hardworking candidates and to ensure merit, transparency, and equal opportunities in the recruitment process. He added that the Commission will continue to introduce technology based reforms and modernise its examination system in order to build greater public confidence in recruitment. For the thousands of candidates who compete for government posts in Sindh every year, the measure signals that merit based selection is being backed with practical tools at the examination centre, and the Commission’s next steps will show whether further digital measures follow in marking, result processing, and the handling of examination material.
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