ROURKELA: Despite the State Government’s announcement to provide transport and accommodation to needy students appearing the JEE (Main) and NEET, not many aspirants have come forward to avail the assistance in Sundargarh district amid the prevailing Covid-19 crisis.
The Rourkela city administration has made arrangements to provide stay and food to students arriving from far-off areas to take the JEE (Mains) on Tuesday but surprisingly, the number of aspiring engineering students seeking the Government assistance is significantly less. The Padmanava College of Engineering (PCE) here has been designated as the centre for online admission test. The examination will be held in two sittings daily from September 1 to 6.
Nodal Officer of JEE (Mains) and NEET for Sundargarh district PC Rath said till 5 pm on Monday, only eight students of Deogarh, Keonjhar, Sonepur and another district have registered. They have been accommodated in Utkalmani Gopabandhu Institute of Engineering (UGIE) hostel.
As many as 11 students of Sundargarh town and neighbourhoods, having examination centres at Bhubaneswar and Sambalpur, have registered so far. Two students of Rourkela and one of Kutra block have left for their respective centres accompanied by their guardians. The travel arrangement was made by Rourkela Regional Transport Officer, informed Rath who is also the Principal of Government-run UGIE.
Sources said some students of Rourkela have already left for Bhubaneswar by making their own arrangements without informing the administration.
Rourkela ADM Aboli Sunil Naravane said, “The administration is committed to extend all possible help to students and ensure smooth conduct of the test in strict adherence to Covid-19 guidelines,” she added.
Incidentally, the number of engineering students registered at the Rourkela centre has almost halved this year in view of the pandemic situation.
This year, a total of 2,710 students will appear the JEE (Mains) at PCE centre. As many as 460 students are scheduled to appear the test on the first day, while for the rest five days, 225 aspirants will take the examinations.
While the NEET is scheduled to be held on September 14, no students have registered for the test yet.