In a bid to curb malpractices in the National Eligibility Test (NET), the University Grants Commission (UGC) has made the application and admission process lengthy. Unlike, the previous editions wherein the process got over in two days, this time around aspirants will have to wait for four days before they can get registered for the test. Officials said that the decision was taken after it was noticed that candidates from particular subjects and regions applied en masse, as a result of which their seating for the test was in the same centre, paving the way for copying.
Throwing light on the decision, Dr D. Harichandan, NET and SET coordinator for Mumbai said that even though the new four-day procedure is a little more complicated, it is for the benefit of the students Explaining the process Dr Harichandan said, “The candidate has to first register on the NET website and after a login ID is generated, he/she has to fill up the challan and take a printout of the same. However, the candidate has to wait for the next day before the payment can be made. After making the payment, the candidate has to wait for another two days before the registration process is completed.”
He added that only after the process was completed would the candidate be able to download the admission slip, attendance slip and hall-ticket.
Justifying the decision Dr Harichandan said, “There have been instances of candidates from a particular region appearing for the same subject or applying one after the other. As a result of this, the serial numbers that were being generated were also clustered. This reflected in the seating arrangement for the test where they sat one behind the other. In such a scenario, copying was rampant and hence, the UGC has tried to curb the menace by delaying the process.”
The two-day wait will ensure that the applications are processed separately, so that the serial numbers would be different and the seating far apart. He said that while the last date for submissions was May 8, aspirants would have to compulsorily make payments by May 5, failing which their submission will not be accepted.