File picture of students at the JEE exam centre in Bhubaneswar

Bhubaneswar, Dec. 14: About 38,000 students from Odisha have applied for Joint Entrance Examination (JEE) Main, which will be held on April 4.

The last date for submitting application forms is December 18.

It must be noted here that despite pressure from private engineering colleges to take students through Odisha JEE, the state government stuck to its last year’s decision to go with the JEE Main.

“Last year many students did not register for JEE Mains thinking that they would appear for OJEE, which is why the admission figures were very dismal. This year, we are trying to make students aware of the situation and hope that this time the response will be better,” said Janmeyaja Sutar, admission in charge of a private engineering college.

CBSE officials at the regional office here have advised students to check the website: www.jeemain.nic.in for all latest updates.

In order to facilitate the candidates to submit the application online, at least 10 help centres have been set up in Odisha.

These are located at DAV Public School Unit 8, DAV Public School, Chandrashekharpur, Kendriya Vidyalaya –1, Mothers Public School, Berhampur, DAV Public School, Baleswar, Modern Public School, Cuttack, Kenriya Vidyalaya, Rourkela, DPS Sec-14, and Sambalpur Gurunanak Public School.

“The candidates must have their own valid email id and mobile number since many information will be sent via SMS and email,” a senior CBSE official said.

The entrance examination will be conducted in two parts — JEE-Main and JEE-Advanced.

The OJEE is expected to be held in the second week of May for admissions into BTech, MBA, MCA, ayurveda and homeopathy courses.