Several JEE Main candidates have received admission cards containing wrong information

Updated on: Tuesday, March 19, 2013

Several candidates due to take the Joint Entrance Examination (JEE-Main) on April 7 have received admission cards containing wrong information. In some cases, they have even received them with wrong photos that could prevent them from taking the entrance test to the premier engineering institutes.

An official at the Central Board of Secondary Education's (CBSE) JEE exam office, who refused to be identified, said at least a lakh candidates, or one in 13 applicants, are affected. But CBSE chairman Vineet Joshi told the TOI: "There are a couple of cases with erroneous admit cards. But we will fix them."

About 12.8 lakh students have applied this year for the engineering JEE, which determines admission to the prestigious Indian Institutes of Technology, National Institutes of Technology, Indian Institutes of Information Technology and Management, and several other engineering colleges.

This is the first time a combined engineering entrance exam for the institutes will be held. The CBSE was entrusted with conducting the examination because of its expertise in handling such large tests. The errors have showed up in the candidates' admit cards uploaded on the JEE website on March 6.

For instance, Armaan Rais Ahmed Mansuri, an 18-year-old student from Nashik, has received a hall ticket with the photograph of one Mohammed Moies Khan on it. In another case, a male candidate from Pune has received an admit card with a girl's photo.

The official at the CBSE's office blamed the applicants' schools for the mix-up. The applications were printed out and processed together by the schools, leading to wrong photos getting pasted on some of them, the officer said. "There are over one lakh students whose admit cards and applications had wrong photos. The applications of some girls have boys' photographs pasted on them and boys' applications had girls' photos. We will solve as many cases as we can," she said.

But at least in Mansuri's case, the applicant or the school had not made any mistakes.

The CBSE's casual approach has worsened the situation, with just weeks remaining for the exam. Mansuri said he has been unable to contact CBSE officials despite several attempts. "I have not received a reply to my emails dated March 6 and 11. I've tried calling them on the helpline numbers given on the JEE website but the line is mostly busy. If I am lucky and the phone rings at the other end, nobody answers the call," he said.

Another candidate, who contacted TOI and wanted to remain anonymous, said, "If the mistake is not rectified, I may not be allowed to write my JEE. All my hard work and aspirations will be wasted for no mistake of my own. I will not be able to study in an NIT or an IIT. This is a blunder on the part of the authorities."

The Admit Card for the candidates can be downloaded from the JEE website www.jeemain.nic.in. Students can email the CBSE about any discrepancy on the Admit Card at [email protected] by 25 March.

CBSE Helpline No: 8506061071-78 between (10.00 am to 5.30 pm) on working days during working hours.

Several JEE Main candidates have received admission cards containing wrong information

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