KEA Proposes Aadhaar-Linked Registration To Curb Seat Blocking In Professional Courses

The Karnataka Examinations Authority (KEA) has proposed Aadhaar-linked registration to curb seat-blocking issues in professional course admissions.

The Karnataka Examinations Authority (KEA) has proposed implementing Aadhaar-linked registration for students seeking professional course seats from next year, aiming to curb the issue of seat-blocking, official sources reported on Tuesday. The proposal has been submitted to the Karnataka e-Governance department for approval.

"The e-Governance department is supportive of our initiative, and they have forwarded it to the Government of India for clearance. We expect approval soon," KEA Executive Director H Prasanna told news agency PTI.

According to Prasanna, the Aadhaar-linked registration is designed to enable authentic student verification, which has been lacking until now. The move is expected to prevent registration misuse and to facilitate the distribution of exam-related updates to students via mobile.

KEA also plans to introduce Aadhaar-linked registration for recruitment exams it conducts across various departments, with the goal of deterring impersonation and other fraudulent practices, Prasanna noted.

The KEA's decision follows reports of a seat-blocking scam under the Karnataka Common Entrance Test (KCET) quota, which surfaced after the final rounds of engineering seat allotment.

Investigations revealed that several students blocked seats using identical IP addresses and submitted fake or incorrect contact details to KEA. In certain cases, students assigned seats in top colleges for popular streams failed to join, potentially allowing these KCET quota seats to fall into the management quota.

Officials suspect that some instances of seat blocking may involve collusion between students, third parties, and college managements.

The Karnataka Examinations Authority (KEA), established in 1994 under the guidance of the Honourable Minister of Higher Education, aims to facilitate admissions for Karnataka students based on their performance in the Common Entrance Test (CET).

Operating under the Ministry of Education, Government of Karnataka, KEA conducts the CET to allocate seats to students within Karnataka. However, management quota seats also allow for the admission of students from other states.

Through this process, students gain entry into first-year undergraduate programmes in fields including Engineering, Medical Technology, Architecture, B.Sc. in Farm Sciences (Agriculture), Fisheries Science, Agricultural Biotechnology, Horticulture, Forestry, Dairy Technology, Food Technology, Dentistry, and Pharmacy.

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