Bhubaneswar, Nov. 7: The policy planning board of the state government's technical education department today recommended holding both JEE (Mains) and Odisha JEE tests for engineering, as was the practice till2013.
The JEE (Mains) is an all-India test, while the Odisha JEE is a state-level entrance examination.
The ball now lies in the court of the state government, which is likely to give a nod to the decision. Once it is approved, it will fulfil the demand of private engineering colleges that will benefit from the move. Chief minister Naveen Patnaik will take the final decision in this regard.
'If the chief minister approves, we will conduct the OJEE. Till then, students can carry on with the existing pattern and continue registering for the JEE (Mains). If the chief minister okays the OJEE, interested students can enrol for it later,' saidretired judge of Orissa High Court Justice A.K. Parischa, who is heading the board.
The 12-member board includes the secretary of the technical education and training,BPUT officials and representatives of the private engineering colleges in the state.The crucial meeting was held totake a final call on the ticklish issue of whether engineering aspirants should take the all-India examination or the Odisha JEE.
'We have requested the state government to facilitate the announcement as soon as possible. Students need not be confused, as nothing will be changed. Till 2012, the students used to take both the All-India Engineering Entrance Examination(AIEEE) and also the OJEE. Now, they have to take the JEE (Mains) and the OJEE,' said Binod Dash, secretary of the Odisha Private Engineering Colleges' Association.
Private colleges had said the Orissa Professional Educational Institution Act, 2007, prescribed admission to technical streams, including first-year BTech, throughtwo type of tests - JEE conducted by the policy planning body and the AIEEE, now known as JEE (Mains).
The owners of private colleges argue that since the act is still in force and no amendment has been brought to change it, the state government cannot decide to skip this test for engineering admissions while holding it for other technical courses. The government this year decided totake part in JEE (Mains), instead of conducting OJEE 2014 for admission to first-year of BTech.
However, the OJEE was conducted for MBA, MCA though these courses also have parallel all-India examinations. So, this is clear violation of the Orissa Professional Educational Institution Act, 2007, said an association representative.
Authorities of the private colleges said the OJEE used to provide 10 per cent seats for students from outside the state, which saw around 19,000 students from outside the state joining private colleges every year. However, since the OJEE was not held last year, the colleges lost half of this usual intake from outside the state.
In 2014, more than 60 per cent seats remained vacant in private engineering colleges - that was worse compared to the previous years, said Dash.
Dash said deemed universities and private universities in the state continued to conduct their own examination to fill up their seats instead of taking the JEE (Mains) or OJEE route, but no one was objecting to that. The same is also true in the case of IIIT, Bhubaneswar, which is a state-funded institute that admitted 50 per cent students from outside the state.
'Two different entrance examinations would imply more burden as these tests are different from each other. In my opinion, we should stick to a single test,' said Pratyasha Jena, a student.
