Lack of affordable transportation facilities, no seating arrangement for guardians outside exam centres, and centres located away from urban areas have kept JEE Mains examinees on the edge in Ranchi since the beginning of the examinations on September 1. However, for many examinees, the stress of performing better in the exams overshadowed the fact that they were braving a global pandemic to appear for a test.
Many examinees preferred facing the odds instead of losing a year of their academic career. Aditya Kumar, a Ranchi resident who appeared for the exam on day one of the six-day exams, said that losing a year would have been worse than facing difficulties in the process of appearing for the exams. “I have my own car, so reaching the exam centre was not a problem for me.
The students who do not have their own vehicle might have faced problems. However, I am sure that no student would want to lose a year despite the challenges they have faced for appearing in the exams,” he said.
Parents and local guardians of the examinees have been sharing the stress and facing the odds along with their wards during this period in Ranchi. Dhananjay Kumar, a resident of Nalanda in Bihar, reportedly covered 300 kilometers on his motorcycle to bring his daughter to Ranchi for the day 2 of exams as buses were not plying from Bihar to Jharkhand.
The 12-hour-long journey was taxing on his body, but he could not let his daughter lose a year.Despite covering long distances on two wheelers and cabs, parents of the examinees were not even provided a place to sit while their children appeared for the exams amid strict Covid-19 precautionary measures. Patratu resident, Vishal Prasad, who booked a cab to bring his sister to Ranchi for the JEE exams, said that guardians of examinees had to face a tough time outside the exam centres. “There was no seating arrangement outside the centre. Even tea stalls and eateries were closed, so spending three hours in the sun was quite a challenge,” he said.
Aarti Srivastava, a resident of Simaliya in Ranchi, said that the administration should have at least arranged for a tent for guardians as frequent downpours were expected in Ranchi during this time of the year. “The exam centres are so far away from the city.
There are no eateries around and we don’t even have a place to sit,” said Aarti, who brought her son to the exam centre by a pre-booked cab.
Around 23,000 students are appearing for the ongoing exams in eight centres across five cities in Jharkhand. There are two centres each in Ranchi, Jamshedpur and Dhanbad and one centre each in Bokaro and Hazaribag.Days before the JEE Mains began, Chief Minister Hemant Soren conducted a poll on Twitter in which around 78 per cent participants voted in favour of postponing the exam.
Ministers from at least six non-BJP ruled states, including Jharkhand, had also knocked at the door of the Supreme Court seeking postponement of the exams owing to risk of Covid-19 infection among students.
In wake of Covid-19, loudspeakers were installed at an examination centre in Tupudana here to remind students about maintaining social distancing.
Besides, circles were also marked at the entry to ensure that students do not come close to each other.