DailyPost 2851
PUJA KHEDKAR CASE – IS THERE A DEEPER MALAISE?
Presuming everything to be right does not make it right. Is Puja Khedkar case an one off case or is it symptomatic of a deeper malaise, which has hit the system in an extremely surreptitious manner. The peeling off of every layer of this case sends a chill down your spine, as to what levels can stoop to, and is our system competent enough to handle this level of nefarious activity by a candidate, even if it were to be an aberration. As expected, the media trial is on for the alleged wrongdoer. The media is now talking about other officers who would have misused the system, and some of them even talk of big numbers. It’s not shy of putting UPSC in the dock, and making holes into what was supposed to be a full proof system.
UPSC has given the steel frame to this country and integrity of both is being questioned or at least there is talk of incapability ranging on the verge of incompetence. If we go by the theory of more Khedkars and such indications are being made in the public domain, and given the environment that we are in, the only way out is put all doubts to rest and revamp the system in such a manner, that nobody even under the exceptional circumstances is able to play foul with the certificates, degrees, qualifying documents, change of names et al. The scope of work for remediation has to be decided on very clear cut parameters, and nothing in that scope can be less than fully and satisfactorily attended.
The strategy has to go beyond normal enquiries, it has to be of the nature of Comprehensive Forensic Audit of all suspects or all those who have asked for benefits based on necessary certificates provided. The authority issuing those certificates need to validate and with connected records that qualify them for the same. The details of all parents, brothers, sisters as required can be connected to, wherever required. Duplication of records, change of name, different certificates provided at different times can be worked out neatly with the present technology. The metadata of the record creation would throw up lots of details, which we cannot even imagine and provide lots of connects, maybe patterns too. The time, location and the machine on which the document was created, size of document, edited or otherwise, document attached, their genesis, there are ways and means by which nothing can escape.
A mercenary Comprehensive Forensic Audit would be ideal to cleanse the system and would be a ready made tool which can be used in a preventive manner wherever required or a regular tool for due diligence. As this cleansing happens, we need to strategize to sanitise for the future. One unique ID for a candidate through candidate’s all attempts would help. All documents would be tied to this id. All certificates required by USPC would be validated directly from issuing authorities through the digital mode, all certificates to be created digitally, each one should be a part of the functioning database. All online audit logs and meta data would be available for scrutiny. All medical test records and its genesis should also be available for reference. All certificates already submitted to UPSC should work for further cross referencing. Red herrings at different stages should be factored in. An expert in this field can give you any number of other parameters which need to be factored in, in the due diligence process. A comprehensive certificates validation tool, AI enabled, having connect to all issuing authorities and all other connected databases for the purpose, can do wonders. It might have some initial hiccups but it has to be made robust in the interest of the nation.
COMPREHENSIVE FORENSIC AUDIT TO CLEANSE AND STRATEGY TO SANITISE FOR THE FUTURE IS THE NEED OF THE HOUR.
Sanjay Sahay
Have a nice evening.