In an important move to bring greater transparency in professional and recruitment exams, the Karnataka Examinations Authority (KEA) has proposed Aadhaar-linked registration for students who intend to get seats for professional courses from next year. The proposal is likely to end the malpractice of seat blocking and impersonation in the examination and the subsequent seat allocation process. The KEA has already handed over the proposal to the Karnataka e-Governance department, which supports the same and forwarded it to the Government of India for clearance, according to H Prasanna Executive Director of KEA

Eradicating Seat Blocking And Impersonation

But the Aadhaar registration will itself bring a revamp to the authentication process which at present lacks proper control measures says Prasanna. This step, by insisting on Aadhaar-based identification, would ensure that candidates do not misuse false information in the process of registration and would act as a deterrent to malpractices such as seat blocking, where students might register with fake or duplicate credentials. This would mean that KEA would have a better handle on monitoring candidate identities and only actual applicants occupying seats allocated through the Karnataka Common Entrance Test (KCET) and other professional exams.

Recent probes have been on seat blocking, especially in the KCET engineering seat allotment. The authorities found that students under the KCET quota were not taking up the seats assigned to them; instead, they were being absorbed in the management quota. Such a situation led to accusations of seat blocking for financial gains, with third-party collusion with college management suspected. For instance, one student applied for the same IP address, and also gave false contact details to be registered in a place; this was then secured but later abandoned.

Expanded Use of Recruitment Tests

The KEA is also in the process of introducing Aadhaar-linked registration in recruitment exams that it conducts on behalf of various government departments with a view to check impersonation and other malpractices associated with it. The linking of Aadhaar with exam registrations will help the KEA get more precise information from the candidates, thereby increasing security at all levels.

We are expecting the Government of India to approve it soon. After that, through Aadhaar-linked system, updates on examinations would be delivered straight to the mobile phones of the candidates, which will limit the scope of miscommunication and fraudulent activities, said Prasanna.

In case this policy is approved, it will set an example for other states to integrate Aadhaar-based authentication during conducting their respective examinations and assessment to recruit students or employees in various parts of the country, which would strengthen the credibility and responsibility attached to such selections.