BHUBANESWAR: The confusion over the minimum eligibility criteria for taking Joint Entrance Examination (JEE) died down after the Orissa JEE Committee on Wednesday announced that there is no bar on any candidate appearing for the test.
This comes a day after Orissa Private Engineering Colleges' Association (OPECA), the umbrella body of the engineering institutions, got a relief from the Orissa High Court.
The HC, in its interim order, had ordered that the eligibility criteria for appearing in the entrance examination to get admission to the first year degree engineering/technology and MCA shall not be given effect to for enabling the students to appear in the JEE.
After the All India Council of Technical Education fixed the criterion at 50 per cent (for general candidates) and 45 per cent (SC/ST category students) and Orissa Government gave it a goahead, the OPECA knocked the HC doors.
Vice-chairman, OJEE committee, Sitaram Mohapatra said the last date for sale and receipt of application has already been extended to March 26 as per the HC order. Besides, all students can appear irrespective of their score in the qualifying examination Plus Two. "For counselling and admission, we will wait for the judgment of the court on the eligibility criteria," he said.
Interestingly, the issue continued to court controversy even as the JEE body maintained that the eligibility criteria were never set for appearing in the entrance. It was for admission that the 50 per cent marks in aggregate in Physics and Mathematics and any of the three Chemistry, Biotechnology and Biology would have come into play. For MCA, it is 50 per cent in Plus Three. The eligibility for SC/ST category students was 45 per cent for both.
Mohapatra said it was not possible to set 50 per cent score as the eligibility for appearing JEE since a majority of students were currently appearing for the Plus Two examination. However, the OPECA dubbed the OJEE committee action as misleading. Its honorary secretary Binod Dash said the JEE body is on the backfoot after the HC order.
"Had the AICTE eligibility criteria been stuck to, then hundreds of candidates who have cleared Plus Two in past years but not scored 50 per cent would stand barred. We will wait for the HC judgment on the issue," he said.
The association also wrote to the Industries Secretary seeking extension of sale of the JEE forms by another seven days so that candidates, who were in a state of confusion over the eligibility criteria, could apply.
The OPECA also sought widespread publicity of the HC order for benefit of the aspirants.