JEE Main in Assam: Less than 50% examinees appear on first day

GUWAHATI: Covid-19 infection fear had a profound impact on JEE (Main) exam in Assam as less than 50% attendance was recorded in the six exam centres across the state on Tuesday.

“Across Assam, the trend was not very encouraging today (Tuesday). In the Guwahati centre, where the exam was held through digital mode, hardly 200 out of around 600 registered candidates appeared,” said an official of National Testing Agency (NTA), which is responsible for conducting JEE (Main) and NEET (UG) in the country.

Officials involved with the exam procedure blamed the alarming situation due to the pandemic for the poor attendance as transportation no longer poses a big hurdle for the examinees with public buses and shared taxis playing on roads with limited number of passengers.

“Not only in the Guwahati city centre, poor attendance was seen in other centres as well. On an average, attendance has been around 40% only,” the NTA official added. Apart from the Guwahati centre, the number of centres for JEE (Main) in other districts are — Jorhat (2), Dibrugarh (1), Tezpur (1) and Silchar (1).

While many students in the state are opposing the conduct of the JEE (Main) and NEET (UG), the NSUI and Youth Congress took the protest to the streets to demonstrate against the government move to conduct the entrance tests.
The biggest worry for NTA authorities in Assam is the NEET (UG) to be held on September 13 (Sunday). Assam government and NTA officials held a meeting here on Monday to find out a way for conducting the medical entrance test with ease. The number of NEET (UG) aspirants in the state is more than double compared to those appearing in JEE (Main).

In Assam, the number of candidates registered to appear for JEE (Main) is 12,803 (6 centres). But for NEET (UG), the number of aspirants is 30,311 (81 centres). As many of the candidates are registered to appear for both the exams, a section of the students may not appear for JEE (Main) since a large section of them are giving more priority to NEET (UG), feel some of the guardians.

With the number of candidates registered to appear for B Arch. and B Planning on Tuesday were comparatively much lower than BTech/BE aspirants to appear in JEE (Main) from Wednesday to Sunday, the challenge for the NTA will be immense in the next few days to ensure Covid-19 protocols and social distancing at test centres.

“For the last three to four months, I have prepared really hard for JEE (Main). I must appear in the test tomorrow. But my parents, who are diabetic, are my biggest worry. I will have to be extra cautious so that I don’t become a carrier of the virus,” said Pradipta Ranjan Mallik, who is going to appear for JEE (Main) in Guwahati on Wednesday.

News Source Times of India