Students from outside Bengal may soon see the state joint entrance examination (JEE) doors slam shut, two years after they were thrown open.

An influx of 'below-average students' from other states into engineering campuses here has prompted the government to review its open-door policy.

'We will not compromise on quality and may revise the system,' said Sajal Dasgupta, director of technical education. 'The issue is important and we are examining the complaints.'

The state government had withdrawn domicile curbs on JEE applicants and allowed students from beyond Bengal to take the tests in their respective states, for the institutes to have a wider talent pool to fill up their seats from.

Now, the campuses, including the ones in Jadavpur and Shibpur, have been flooded with students of 'below-average merit', mostly from Uttar Pradesh, Bihar and Jharkhand, allege officials.

These students had fared poorly in the Class X and Plus-II exams, but managed high JEE rankings.

Faced with questions from teachers and students at Jadavpur University and Bengal Engineering and Science University (BESU), Shibpur, about how such weak students could make the grade, higher education minister Sudarshan Roy Choudhury had summoned JEE board chairman N.R. Banerjea for an emergency meeting on Thursday.

The minister asked Banerjea, also BESU's vice-chancellor, to conduct a probe and submit a report at the earliest.

Some teachers attribute the high success rate of students from other states to the multiple-choice questions introduced this year.

Unlike their counterparts from Bengal, students from other states are used to the multiple-choice type from the secondary level.

'Outstation students may have done well because they are well-rehearsed in the new format. But we need to look at other factors as well,' said Parthapratim Biswas, member of the JU executive council.