Karnataka to bar NEET, JEE students with seats in IITs, NITs, IISc from CET counselling

NEW DELHI: The Karnataka Examinations Authority (KEA) will bar Karnataka domicile students who have secured medical seats through the National Eligibility-cum-Entrance Test (NEET) or admission to Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs) through the Joint Entrance Examination (JEE) from attending Common Entrance Test (CET) counselling. The KEA has announced this restriction to prevent misuse of credentials and seat blocking.

As per The Hindu reports, the authority has also planned to closely monitor candidates who, despite obtaining high CET ranks, initially seek admission to allied health sciences courses in the first two rounds of counselling and later attempt to secure government quota engineering seats in top private engineering colleges.

“A separate cell will be set up headed by the administrative officer of KEA to monitor Karnataka domicile candidates who secure engineering seats in IITs, NITK-Suratkal and IISc-Bangalore and others through JEE (Mains and Advanced) ranks and securing 15% national quota seats in the National Medical Institutes through NEET ranking,” said H Prasanna, executive director of KEA.

Following a case during CET 2024 where 53 students claimed their options were entered without consent, the KEA has tightened counselling rules. The Times of India report states that at least five of these students had already secured seats in IITs or NITs. Further investigation revealed that over 2,000 IP addresses were involved in suspicious activity during the counselling process.

KEA requests JEE admission data

KEA executive director S Prasanna said NEET and CET counselling in Karnataka will be conducted simultaneously, while JEE admissions will conclude by June. Details of state candidates who appeared for both NEET and CET and secured seats in national medical institutions with high ranks will be accessible on the National Medical Commission (NMC) website.

For those who gained admission to national technical institutes through JEE along with CET, KEA will officially request data from the National Testing Agency (NTA). Once verified, candidates who have already secured seats in such institutions will be blocked from the CET counselling process.

H Prasanna said the authority is writing to the central agency for details of students admitted through JEE. “Once they report to their colleges, we will not allow them to continue with CET counselling here,” he said.

Facial tagging for verification

"This year, we are introducing facial tagging. We'll ask students to take a confirmation slip from KEA and go to college, show their face, and give an OTP to the principal. The principal will provide the admission ticket," Prasanna said

The TOI report further states that students will now be asked to pay before locking options. Officials said this will help trace activity through linked bank accounts.