Aadhaar not mandatory for JEE-Main or UGC-NET

Students' Aadhaar number is not mandatory for Joint Entrance Examination-Main (JEE-Main) to be held in 2019, the National Testing Agency (NTA) has clarified.

The Unique identification number is also not mandatory for the candidates to be applying for the University Grants Commission-National Eligibility Test (UGC-NET).

“The Aadhaar number is only one of the types of identification and is not mandatory,” the testing agency said issuing a notification.

The candidates can also enter passport number, ration card number, bank account number or “any other valid government identity number,” it added.

The testing agency, set up by the central government as an autonomous body to conduct various competitive examinations at national level, has come up with clarifications on the requirement of Aadhaar in response to “queries” from students in this connection.

The clarifications come at a time when students are filling up online forms for taking JEE-Main in January 2019 and UGC-NET in December this year.

The last date for submission of forms for the two tests is September 30.

The NTA, which will conduct JEE-Main twice in a year, is scheduled to hold the first nationwide test (computer-based only) for entrance to engineering colleges in multiple sittings from January 6, 2019 to January 20, 2019.

The second JEE-Main will be held from April 6, 2019 to April 20, 2019.

The testing agency will conduct UGC-NET in multiple sittings from December 9, 2018 to December 23, 2018.