Students answer the IIT entrance examination at the DM Madan Girls? High School in Bistupur. Picture by Bhola Prasad

Jamshedpur, April 9: Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) aspirants had a tough time answering question papers during the joint entrance examination (JEE) because of the new format implemented this year.

The new JEE question paper was divided into three categories ? physics, mathematics and chemistry ? and each subject was allotted two hours. Between each exam, the students also had a two-hour break. Earlier, the test used to be in a single sitting of three hours. This change in syllabus and timing, the students complained, were ?inadequate? and ?tiresome?.

Aruna Singh, a candidate at Loyola School, one of the examination centres, said: ?Students were writing from 8 am to 6 pm. The two-hour breaks between each paper was uncalled for.?

Another candidate, Tausif Raza, said: ?A majority of the questions carried negative marks. Moreover, the comprehension questions and match-the-columns section introduced for the first time in each of the subjects were difficult.?

The format peeved candidates to such an extent that many students left the examination centre after writing the physics paper, which was scheduled in the first slot ? from 8 am to 10 am.

?What is the use of appearing in the other two papers when I could not write the physics paper well?? asked Avinash Kumar ? an IIT aspirant writing the test at DM Madan Girls? High School ? as he was leaving the campus.

Apart from the syllabus, the timings, and for some, the ?oppressive heat?, most students also expressed displeasure at the recent proposal to increase the reservation quota for other backward castes (OBCs) in IITs.

?We do not think we will be able to qualify to the IITs if this policy is introduced from this session. Increasing the reservation quota for OBCs will further mar the prospects of general candidates,? said Nachiketa Ghosh, an IIT aspirant, who wrote the JEE for the first time in 2006.

This year will be the last chance for candidates who had been unsuccessful in passing the test earlier. Moreover, those students passing Class XII or its equivalent with 60 per cent marks this year will get two chances to appear in the examination. The 60 per cent norm was made mandatory from this year.

Over 5,000 students today appeared from the examination halls at the eight centres that were allocated for the IIT-JEE examination in the steel city. About 20,000 candidates wrote the test in Jharkhand and in the national-level, the number stood at 3 lakhs for the 4,200 seats in IIT.