85% students turn up for JEE in Bihar

PATNA: Nearly 85% of the registered candidates appeared for the Joint Entrance Examination (JEE) Main in Bihar on the second day on Wednesday for admissions in BE and BTech at premier engineering institutes like IITs and NITs. The examinations were held at 43 centres across the state. As many as 8,267 students were registered for the examination in the state on Wednesday.
Altogether 3,518 students appeared at 20 centres in Patna. According to the National Testing Agency conducting the exam, all the Covid-19 precautionary measures were taken at the centres.
In Bihar, total 61,585 candidates have to appear in the examination, which will continue till September 6.
Some of the candidates and their parents claimed that safety measures were taken only inside the exam centre. The photos and videos of a crowd gathered outside the Patliputra Colony’s exam centre surfaced on social media on Wednesday.
One of candidates said, “It was difficult to get inside the exam centre’s gate without brushing anyone. There was no one to ensure social distancing. The situation was even grim when I left the exam centre for home.”
Prashant Kumar, who completed Class XII from BD Public School, said, “There was gap of one computer system between two candidates. Throughout the exam, the invigilators asked the candidates to wear the face masks. However, there was no social distancing outside the premises.”
Bhargavi Kiran, who appeared at Phulwarisharif centre, said social distancing norm was followed. “The overall paper was good. The physics section was lengthy for me while in chemistry most of the questions were asked from the organic chemistry,” said the girl, who has completed her Class XII from St Michael’s High School.