BPUT students protest bungling in Odisha JEE exams, counselling

Reported by Santosh Jagdev

Bhubaneswar, Aug 12:

Two groups of students of Biju Patnaik University of Technology (BPUT) today raised their voice against alleged irregularities in the conduct of the Odisha Joint Entrance Examination (OJEE) and the counselling of students that followed.

Odisha BPUT Students’ Association (OBSA) members today staged a dharna outside the OJEE office here at Gandamunda alleging major irregularities in the joint examinations.

Burning tyres and shouting slogans, the students demanded scrapping of the ‘not fit for technical education’ (NFT) system from the BPUT regulation. As per the guidelines, a student cannot appear for second semester examination if he/she fails to secure grade 4.5 in the first semester, they said.

OBSA members also demandeda  special financial audit for OJEE and removal of the officials involved in the irregularities. Thy also demanded strengthening of the Central Placement Cell of OJEE, which they said is defunct now and immediate appointment of members in the placement cell.

Another BPUT Students’ Union (BSU), Odisha along with the Odisha Technical College Association (OTCA) members, today met Odisha Governor S C Jamir at his residence here and discussed with him the memorandum that the OTCA had submitted yesterday demanding fulfillment of its 7-point charter of demands, including to scrapping of the OJEE.

OTCA chairman Biswaranjan Mohanty and BSU president Sandeep Mishra, along with three others, met the Governor and discussed the early scrapping of NFT, conduct of financial audit for OJEE, formation of a technical committee in OJEE and other issues.

“We have got a positive feedback from the Governor during discussion on these demands. We will meet him again tomorrow to find a solution to these issues,” said Mishra.