JEE begins today amid Covid-19 pandemic

Amid fear of a pandemic, lakhs of engineering aspirants are sitting for the common entrance examinations across the country from Tuesday. The JEE (mains) exams will go on till Sunday. Students cued up at exams centre across the country on Tuesday morning to take exam following strict safety guidelines. The exams are taking place after government refused to postpone NEET-JEE for a third time in this year amid such demands by students and parents. Some of whom also moved the supreme court which turned down their pleas. The National Testing Authority decided to go ahead with the exam for engineering courses in NITs, IITs and CFTs, stating that a zero year will disrupt the academic calendar at the premier institutions. The government says several Covid protocols have been put in place to allay the fear of aspirants, which include thermal scanning and sanitization at the exam halls. Many state governments have also made arrangements for the travel of the students to the exam centres. In Mumbai, the railways will allow students and parents to travel in suburban trains for the exam.