In the wake of the Kovid-19 epidemic, the Joint Entrance Examination (JEE) -means for admission to engineering colleges started on Tuesday amidst social distance and strict precautionary measures.

Arrangements of sanitizer at the different entrance and exit gates in various examination centers across the country and distribution of masks while keeping social distance to the candidates in queues are commonly seen. Due to Kovid-19, the JEE (Main) entrance exam has been postponed twice before and is now scheduled between 1 to 6 September.

An official of the National Examination Agency (NTA) said, "Hand sanitizers have been provided at all times inside the entrance of the examination center and inside the examination hall." Apart from the natural process of checking the admit cards of the candidates, this time a barcode reader has been installed, which has been made available to the officials at the examination center.

He said, all the candidates have been asked to come with the mask and sanitizer at the examination center and upon entering the center they have to use the mask provided by the examination authority. Each candidate is offered three-ply masks at the time of admission and is expected to wear the masks provided to him during the examination. The first shift of the exam will start at 9.30 am and the second shift at 2.30 pm.

The NTA official said, after the commencement of the examination of each shift and the examination of the second shift, all the seats will be thoroughly cleaned and the workstations and keyboards will be made virus-free.

It is worth noting that around nine lakh candidates have registered for the JEE Main Examination for admission in engineering courses at IITs, NITs, and centrally funded technical institutes.

The governments of Odisha, Madhya Pradesh, and Chhattisgarh have assured the candidates that their arrival will be arranged. Apart from this, IIT alumni and current students have also started a portal to provide transportation facilities to the needy students.

It is noteworthy that due to the proliferation of Kovid-19, there was a demand to postpone the holding of JEE Mains and Medical Entrance Examination NEET. Earlier, the Supreme Court had dismissed a petition regarding postponement of the examination and said that the previous year of the students cannot be wasted.