Odisha: 71.8% candidates appear for JEE Main in state

BHUBANESWAR: Around 72 per cent (71.8 per cent to be exact) of the total registered candidates for the JEE Main examination in the state have turned up for the six-day-long JEE Main examination that ended on Sunday.
Amid this pandemic situation, the National Testing Agency (NTA) has conducted the examination in 26 centres (six centres in Bhubaneswar) in seven cities between September 1 and September 6.These cities were Bhubaneswar, Cuttack, Balasore, Berhampur, Rourkela, Dhenkanal and Sambalpur.
A total of 38,236 students from Odisha had registered with NTA to appear for JEE Main examination, but as many as 27,457 students have managed to appear the national-level entrance examination in these 26 centres. Around 28 per cent candidates did not turn up for the examination, sources said.
Skill development and technical education department sources said a total of 3582 out of 4970 candidates have appeared for the entrance test in Cuttack examination centres between September 1 and September 6. Similarly, Dhenkanal centres received 1679 candidates out of 2134 allotted candidates, Sambalpur got 2448 out of 3556 candidates, Balasore centres witnessed 3258 out of 4525 and Rourkela reported 2083 out of 2585 candidates.
More than 16000 candidates had selected six centres in Bhubaneswar, but only 11170 of them turned up for the six-day-long examination. Berhampur city has received 3237 candidates in its four centres out of 4133 registered with the NTA before the examination begins.
First sitting of the examination was conducted between 9am and 12pm, while the second sitting was started from 3pm and continued till 6pm. Students were advised to reach their examination centres by 7am on Sunday.
"Had the state government failed to provide accommodation and transportation to candidates, the percentage of turning up of candidates in examination centres would have decreased further," said a government official.
The state government has made arrangements for free transportation and accommodation of students in seven cities. Students were staying in 20 institutes across seven cities. As Bhubaneswar received the highest candidates, the government had arranged six institutes to accommodate the needy students.
NEET examination will be conducted on September 13 in seven cities of the state.