Bhubaneswar, June 20: The state government today revised the Odisha Joint Entrance Examination (OJEE) counselling fee structure following suggestions from the Odisha Private Engineering Colleges Association (OPECA).

All candidates who have been allotted a seat have to pay Rs 10,000 instead of Rs 25,000 while SC, ST and differently-abled candidates have to pay Rs 5,000. They have to deposit the fee at the nodal centres set up by OJEE. Twenty-four nodal centres have been set up across the state.

OPECA, the umbrella organisation for self-financed engineering colleges of the state, welcomed the government's decision. OPECA had protested against the hike in the fees on the plea that it would affect poor and middle-class students. "Economically backward students constitute 30 per cent of the total candidates and Rs 25,000 is a lot of money for them. We have been opposing the move since the beginning," OPECA secretary Binod Dash had said. OPECA had urged the state government to reconsider its decision. "We have revised the guidelines to ease the admission process," said OJEE chairman Tushar Nath.

According to the new guidelines, the students of JEE (Main) can register and opt for choices on the website of Odisha Joint Entrance Examination after which temporary seats will be allotted to them.

Candidates allotted temporary seats will be asked to appear at the nodal centres and get their documents verified. The candidates will have to pay the admission fees during the counselling process before document verification.

"Since last year, everyone had to come to nodal centres for document verification without knowing if seats would be allotted to them. But we have improved on this. After the temporary allotment of seats, they can deposit the fees and if they are not happy they can opt out," Nath said.

After the final admission at the respective institutes, students will have to pay the rest of the admission fees as outlined by the fee structure committee.