On? Off? On: JEE from today, a scramble to reach centres

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In Chhattisgarh, more than 13,500 students are registered to take the exam, at three centres. To many, this means travel upwards of 400 km and 16 hours to get to the centres, as well as arrangements to be made for lodging, both difficult due to the Covid restrictions.

The Supreme Court had earlier rejected pleas to not hold the exam, and states had been asked to make arrangements for students to get to centres. A review petition filed by several opposition parties before the Supreme Court to put off the exam is pending and has not been listed for hearing as yet.

While district administrations in Chhattisgarh announced on Sunday arrangements it had made for students, with several also organising food and lodging, many aspirants, especially those living in the interiors, said word got to them too late.

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Bhumika Korsa’s village Pedakodepal, in Bijapur district, is 435 km from her centre, Raipur. It has been raining, and she spent the past few days worrying she would not make it out of the village. “Had it rained more, the access road to our village would have been cut off,” Bhumika said.

By the time Bhumika and her father reached the Bijapur District Collectorate, 15 km from Pedakodepal, from where buses were to leave, on Monday, a batch had already left. “I have taken a drop year and I worried it would all go waste. But my father said he would do anything to take me to Raipur,” Bhumika, who prepared on her own for the JEE.

Her father Amit Korsa, a middle-school science teacher, said they had been hoping the lockdown would be over by the time of the exam.

Finally, the district administration arranged a car at 2 pm on Monday to take the father and daughter to Raipur. “The car needed some repairs, so we will reach Raipur by 4 am on Tuesday,” Korsa said. The exam starts at 12 noon, and he hasn’t figured yet what they will do for eight hours.

The Jagdalpur district administration, like several others, prepared a database of JEE applicants with the help of schools and coaching institutes. It rerouted some of its 24X7 Covid helpline numbers for students to register for travel arrangements. Besides, more than 40 children registered on another round-the-clock helpline, manned by teachers.

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District Collector Rajat Bansal said, “The students called, told us their names, mobile numbers and if someone would accompany them. We are arranging for their travel along with food and accommodation.”

Surajpur District Collector Ranbir Sharma said they organised a mini-bus on Monday to take four aspirants and their parents to centres in Bilaspur, around 230 km away, and Raipur, more than 350 km away (Bilaspur falls on the way to Raipur). “We have arranged for them to stay in hostels lying vacant in the districts concerned, and the vehicle will stay and bring them back,” Sharma said.

A parent of one of the applicants, from Bhaiyathan block, who did not want to be identified, said they arrived at Surajpur on Sunday night itself. “We didn’t have any information on when the vehicles would leave,” he said, adding that he had hoped that the exam would either be put off or the lockdown relaxed. “Buses are not functioning, hotels are not open completely… Saal barbaad ho hi gaya hai, kyun pareeksha le rahe hain (Anyway the year is wasted, why are they holding the exam)?”

Rinu Jhadi of Bijapur, whose centre in Raipur is more than 450 km from her home, however, welcomed the decision to hold the exam. “If schools and colleges can have online learning, why not IIT?” she said, on her way to the state capital with elder sister Priya and a teacher in a car arranged by the authorities.

One of 11 students who got coaching for JEE under the Chhattisgarh government’s residential Choo Lo Aasman (Touch the Sky) scheme, Rinu says she would be the first in her family to become an engineer and had worked hard for it. She was not worried about catching the coronavirus, she added. “Since our teacher is coming with us, I don’t feel nervous yet. Maybe after I reach the centre, it will hit me.”

Priya said they might not have been able to make it to Raipur if the officials hadn’t helped. “Private vehicles asked for too much money. Plus, the family might not have let us travel.”

In Uttar Pradesh and Bihar, especially the flood-hit parts, students expressed concern about reaching their centres. Some were also worried about getting infected, and few said they had decided not to appear for this reason.

Uttar Pradesh authorities said they had already held exams with bigger numbers, and were not worried about any Covid spread. Varanasi District Magistrate Kaushal Raj Sharma said, “The recent BEd entrance exams saw 39,000 aspirants, while 47,000 appeared for the UP Public Service Commission exams.”

Deoria DM Amit Kishore said they had arranged boats for students in flood-hit areas to reach centres.

Students belonging to areas similarly marooned in Bihar left homes up to two days ago to ensure they reached JEE centres on time. Several reported booking private vehicles, including Abhishek Pandey of Gopalganj, who said he had breathing problems and didn’t want to risk public transport. He will pay Rs 3,000 to get to Gorakhpur for his September 2 exam, and back.

In Bhind, Madhya Pradesh, Ayush Pandey was grateful for the government announcing free transportation for JEE students. He plans to be in Gwalior a day earlier and stay at a relative’s place.

On Monday evening, Railway Minister Piyush Goyal announced that students appearing for JEE and their guardians can travel by special suburban services in Mumbai on exam days.

with ENS inputs from Lucknow, Patna, Bhopal