JEE Advanced candidates worried over allotment of exam centres far away from home

Many aspirants of the Joint Entrance Examination-Advanced (JEE-Adv) are worried that they may not be able to reach their test centres, as they have been allocated centres that are too far away.

As the Covid-19 pandemic and travel restrictions continue in various parts of the country, candidates are requesting the Joint Seat Allocation Authority (JoSAA) to consider their cases. A total of 1.6 lakh candidates are likely to take their JEE-Adv exam on September 27 in 222 cities for admissions to 111 engineering and technology colleges, including 23 Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs).

A candidate, who resides in Chandrapur in the Vidarbha region of Maharashtra, has been allotted a centre at Pune, roughly 700 kms away. “Given the pandemic, public transport has been reduced a minimum. I had opted for Chandrapur as my centre and Pune was my third preference. I am also worried about putting my health at risk by travelling so far,” said the candidate on the condition of anonymity.

The admission process required candidates to choose eight centres in a descending order of preference. On Monday, the JoSAA issued admit cards to candidates who had completed their registration.

While some candidates complained that they had been allotted their seventh or eighth preference, other said the centre was not selected by them at all.

“I don’t know how they have selected my centre. I am expected to travel more than 400km to take the exam,” said another candidate from Patna.

This year, the JoSAA has doubled the number of exam centres from 600 last year to 1,150 this year to ensure social distancing measures during the exam. The JEE- Advanced exam is being conducted by the IIT-Delhi this year. HT reached out to IIT Delhi Director and JoSAA 2020 co-chairperson V Ramgopal Rao via email and call but he didn’t respond.