Mumbai: Hundreds of aspiring MBBS students in Maharashtra were complaining of a technical problem involving the APAAR ID field. The APAAR ID was optional in the state’s admission guidelines, but in practice, many students found they could not proceed without it.
This caused confusion and panic among students, particularly from rural and semi-urban backgrounds, who were neither familiar with the APAAR system nor equipped to generate the ID at short notice.
What Is APAAR ID?
The APAAR ID is the Union government’s ambitious “One Nation, One Student ID” initiative.
| NEET UG Counselling Guide 2025 | |
|---|---|
| State-wise MBBS/BDS Counselling Guide eBook 2025 | 📥 Download |
| MCC NEET UG Counselling Guide eBook 2025 | 📥 Download |
| AACCC AYUSH NEET Counselling Guide eBook 2025 | 📥 Download |
APAAR stands for Automated Permanent Academic Account Registry, a 12-digit ID created under the National Education Policy 2020. It is meant to be a unique lifelong identifier for students across all educational levels in India.
Developed in collaboration with DigiLocker, APAAR is supposed to store students’ academic records digitally and help streamline credit transfers, mark sheets, and enrollment tracking.
Join NEET News 2025 Although progressive in intent, the system is still in early rollout stages. Many students and even institutions remain unaware of how to create or manage APAAR IDs.
The Technical Problems
Despite being marked as optional in the admission brochure issued by the Maharashtra State Common Entrance Test (CET) Cell, students reported that the “Next” button during registration remained disabled (greyed out) unless a valid APAAR ID was entered.
This is against the stated policy that APAAR was not mandatory for NEET UG 2025 MBBS admissions in Maharashtra.
“I tried three times and couldn’t go beyond the second page without filling the APAAR code. But I don’t have one yet, and it wasn’t mandatory last year either.” said a 18-year-old NEET topper from Nagpur.
Official Clarification by CET Cell
Reacting swiftly, CET Cell Commissioner Dilip Sardesai issued a clarification:
“APAAR ID is not mandatory for NEET UG registration. Students who do not have it can leave it blank and still proceed. The system will not block registration if the field is empty.”
He added that over 6,000 students had already successfully registered without entering their APAAR ID.
CET Cell acknowledged that some backend bugs may have affected specific users and assured that technical teams were working on resolving the issue. A support helpline was activated, and a troubleshooting FAQ was published on the official website.
Based on the technical review, the glitch likely came from the user interface (UI) design of the registration portal. The APAAR field was supposed to be optional, but a front-end validation error made it appear mandatory, especially when students tried to move to the next page. If the field contained anything, the system would validate the ID; if it was left blank, some browsers still prevented progression due to buggy JavaScript.
Experts say this kind of UI/UX inconsistency is common in rushed portal rollouts, especially when integrating new national initiatives like APAAR.
Concerns About APAAR Awareness
- Low Awareness: Despite government pushes, many students and parents are unfamiliar with the APAAR registration process via DigiLocker.
- Digital Divide: Students from lower socio-economic backgrounds or rural areas faced additional hurdles, as some had no Aadhaar-linked mobile number required for APAAR.
- Misinformation: The sudden appearance of the APAAR field created an impression that it had become mandatory overnight, sparking social media rumors.
“We went to a local internet café and the guy had no idea what APAAR is. It took me three hours to create a DigiLocker account and another hour to generate the APAAR. Then I realized it wasn’t even needed,” said Roshan D., a student from Latur.
Instruction for Students
- APAAR ID is optional for MBBS admissions in Maharashtra.
- If the registration portal prevents you from proceeding:
- Try a different browser (Chrome or Edge recommended).
- Leave APAAR field blank; don’t input fake digits.
- Contact CET Cell helpline if issues persist.
- Don’t panic or delay registration: the issue is being fixed and doesn’t affect eligibility.
The APAAR ID integration is part of a larger effort to modernize India’s student record ecosystem. However, this episode serves as a reminder that technical systems must align with policy clarity, especially during time-sensitive, high-stakes processes like medical admissions. Until then, authorities must ensure that new systems like APAAR enhance access, not hinder it.
