Number of students appearing for the Uttar Board exams in 2018 is likely to be lesser in comparison to previous years. The UP Board Of Secondary Education, which conducts the UP Board exam has made it compulsory for candidates to enter their Aadhaar number while filling the examination form. Not only this, all students at the time of registration for class IX will have to display the Aadhaar card. The move is aimed at putting fake enrollments at bay.

Issuing directives, UPBSE secretary Shail Yadav said, “The government wants to link students with Aadhaar so that each students has an individual identity and fraudulent registrations for class IX and XII and dubious filling of forms for classes X and XII can be curbed.”

The board has instructed all district inspector of schools (DIOS) to add Aadhar details of each student and U-DISE code of the school while filling the online form for registration and examination. This is applicable to all government, government-aided and self-finance schools affiliated to UP Board. In case students don’t have an Aadhaar, DIOS have been asked to facilitate it for them. Filling of examination form begins in July.

The compulsory Aadhaar would end the nexus between education mafias, politicians, and bureaucrats. With manual filling of examination form and registration, education mafia comprising mostly owners of self-finance colleges make fake enrolments. In connivance with education officials they get their colleges appointed centres and encourage mass cheating during exam.

Fake enrolment, said officials, also aids in siphoning huge amount of money in the name of scholarship. A valid Aadhaar number would leave no scope for fraudulent registration or impersonation in UP Board exams, said Yadav.