The document verification for CET-2022, though was digitised for the first time, did not save the students from the cumbersome process and crowding at Karnataka Examination Authority (KEA) office, Malleswaram, on Monday.
The process had teething issues and began an hour and a half late on Monday, day 1 of the process, as the server was down and there were other technical glitches. The process that was to start at 9.30 am, started only after 11 a.m. and went on beyond 7 p.m. Through the day, there was a delay in uploading documents due to network issues.
While Block Education Officers (BEOs) carried out the document verification in taluks in a hybrid mode, all CET rank holders — over 40,000 of them in Bengaluru — were asked to congregate at the KEA campus, Malleswaram. As there are only 8 BEOs in the city, KEA arranged document verification together, sources said. On Monday, there was a massive crowd of over 3,000 students and parents at KEA.
Many of them complained of lack of arrangements and coordination as they waited for hours for their turn. Congested space and lack of seating facility in the waiting area added to their restlessness. Many were seen sitting on pavements by the roadside, while others stood for hours. People also had to buy water bottles from the shops near the office since drinking water facilities weren’t provided outside.
H. Manjunath, a parent told to The Hindu that, “I had to travel to the shop on the main road to get water. Drinking water facilities are not good.” There was also overcrowding at the washrooms. “While the process went smoothly, I had to wait for approximately an hour because the server was down. Otherwise it was fine,” said Tejaswini Pai, a Computer Science Engineering aspirant.
“Due to some technical issues and delay in officials starting the process, document verification began a little later than was scheduled. But then it went on smoothly. Some students entered the wrong information while submitting their applications online and wanted to correct them now. But we had given sufficient opportunities to edit their applications and now it is not possible to manipulate the application. Also, we sent back some students one who had not proper study certificates and give them time for submit proper documents,” said a senior KEA official.
