Bhubaneswar, Jan. 7: Private engineering colleges today demanded that the option of offline application process for Odisha Joint Entrance Examination (OJEE) aspirants be kept open along with the online system.

Last week, the state government had announced plans to conduct OJEE-2013 online.

However, the entrance exams will continue to be held offline — on paper.

“We welcome the government’s move to initiate an online process, but the offline process must also continue, at least for three years. The transition must not be sudden,” said Binod Dash, secretary of the Odisha Private Engineering Colleges Association.