JEE held across country amid strict precautions

New Delhi, Sept. 1: The Joint Entrance Exam ( JEE)- Mains for admission to engineering colleges began on Tuesday amid stringent precautions and social distancing measures in view of the Covid- 19 pandemic even as the chorus continued to grow for postponement of the crucial exam which has already been deferred twice.

Scenes outside exam centres across the country reflected the “new normal” amid the pandemic: staggered entry and exit for candidates, sanitisers at the gates, distribution of masks, and students queuing up with safe social distance among them.

JEE- Mains, the first large scale exam to be conducted amid the pandemic, is scheduled from September 1 to 6. Over 9 lakh candidates have registered for the exam for admission to engineering courses in IITs, NITs and Centrally Funded Technical Institutions ( CFTIs).

While the governments of Odisha, Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh have assured students that they will provide transportation to candidates, a group of IIT alumni and students have also launched a portal to provide transport facilities to exam centres the candidates in need.

Several candidates appearing for the exam in West Bengal had a difficult time reaching their test centres owing to heavy rain and lack of transport. However, those in Delhi and NCR didn’t complain of any major difficulties.

Congress leader Rahul Gandhi, who has been opposing the conduct of JEE and NEET exams amid pandemic, alleged that the Modi government has ignored the “genuine concerns” of aspirants, who have been demanding postponement of the entrance exams, due to its “arrogance” and is jeopardising India’s future.