Over 2.4 lakh aspirants appear for IIT-JEE

New Delhi, Apr 8: Examination for entrance to the prestigious Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs) was held today amidst a cloud of uncertainty over the 'OBC quota' issue, with about 4,000 seats up for grabs to the seven 'institutes of excellence.' The IIT-Joint Entrance Exam, which has a new format this year, was held at various centres all over the country with nearly 2.4 lakh aspirants appearing for it.

However, with Supreme Court having stayed the implementation of 27 per cent reservation for the OBC students on March 29, uncertainty looms large over several students who compete in the 'general category' for the IIT-JEE as the IITs have not gone ahead with their seat 'expansion' plans as envisaged earlier.

Institute authorities aver that unless the 'go-ahead' comes from the government, it would make no sense moving in this direction.

Meanwhile, the changed format of the IIT-JEE exams this year had mixed response with some baulking at the 'two paper' format as against the earlier three papers, physics, chemistry, mathematics, while others welcomed the move as ''progressive''.

However, all those appearing for the exam expressed 'sorrow' at the ''half-hearted'' approach of changes, saying the negative marking system should have been dropped as well.

On the other side, institution heads said the new testing format had been formulated keeping in mind the convenience of students, mostly those coming from faraway places to appear in the entrance exams at big cities.

Earlier until 2005, students were required to pass through a two-tier phase, a screening test and the main exam, before getting admitted to the IITs. Since last year, the process was simplified and students had simply to appear for the 'main exams' to get the tag of 'IITian,' as the students and alumni of IITs are colloquially referred to.

The seven IITs at Mumbai, Kanpur, Delhi, Kharagpur, Guwahati, Roorkee and Chennai are autonomous engineering and technology institutes of higher education, created to train scientists and engineers, to form a pool of skilled workforce that would form the backbone to the country's economic and social development.

The IIT-JEE is also used by some other colleges such as the Institute of Technology at the Banaras Hindu University and Indian School of Mines, Dhanbad, to finalise admissions.

UNI