The Madhya Pradesh governments decision to enforce its E-Pravesh Portal as the sole gateway for undergraduate, postgraduate, and higher education admissions has left students and their families overwhelmed, facing technical roadblocks and a lack of official assistance. Marketed as a move to digitise and streamline the admission process, the state-run online portal is now compulsory for all college applicants — including those applying to government institutions. However, the rollout has been marred by poor awareness, limited accessibility, and scarce support on the ground. Students like Devendra Jaat, Amit, and Tarun, who recently passed their Class 12 exams, are visiting campuses in person to seek admission, unaware that the process has shifted online. We thought we could just apply at the college counters, said Amit. Now suddenly were being told about a website weve never heard of. No one explained this. The portal mandates a multi-step process: registration, logging in, uploading required documents, paying a registration fee, and finally undergoing manual verification by designated officials. It is this final step — document approval — that has drawn sharp criticism. Documents such as Aadhaar cards, income certificates, domicile proofs, and mark sheets, all issued and verified by government authorities, are being subjected to a second round of manual validation. These records are already authenticated and stored in DigiLocker, the Government of Indias certified digital repository, said a retired college principal who declined to be named. Requiring another officer to approve them is redundant. Are they more legitimate than the central government? Each applicants file is routed to a Help Centre, where an official must manually verify the uploads. But several students report delays and a lack of communication from these centres. When contacted, Dr Mathura Prasad, the districts Chief Higher Education Officer, was unavailable due to a week-long medical leave. Dr Tulsi Ram Dahayak, who oversees admissions from the Satpura Bhawan office, did not respond to repeated calls. With the admission season at its peak, many fear the lack of awareness, training, and responsiveness could derail academic prospects for hundreds of students. If authorities fail to intervene with effective outreach and on-ground support, the digital transition meant to simplify admissions may end up creating a new web of bureaucratic hurdles, frustrating students more than ever.

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