BHUBANESWAR: The Odisha Private Engineering College Association (OPECA) has urged Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik to request CBSE and extend the last date of application for JEE (Main) 2017 by 20 days.
Stating that this year, the application for the entrance test has been way less than last year, the association said lack of adequate awareness among students was a major cause.
Secretary of the association Binod Dash said this year, only 22,000 students have applied for the JEE (Main) test so far. The number is shocking because last year, during the corresponding period, over 50,000 students had enrolled themselves.
A key reason for the low number of application is the CBSE move to make Aadhaar card mandatory. In Odisha, Dash said, many students do not possess Aadhar card and after the CBSE announcement, they are running from pillar to post to get it although it is a time consuming process.
Demanding that Aadhaar should be delinked from JEE (Main) application, the OPECA said the Odisha JEE Committee should give wider publicity to the test.