Kolkata: The West Bengal Joint Entrance Examination was successfully conducted across 328 centres on Sunday. Around 1,42,694 candidates sat for the exams in 325 centres in Bengal, two in Tripura and one in Assam. According to Board officials, the turnout was 80-82 per cent.
Two papers — Mathematics and Physics and Chemistry — were held from 11 am to 1 pm and 2 pm to 4 pm respectively. With mercury touching 41 to 44 degree Celsius in various districts across the state, the West Bengal Joint Entrance Examinations Board (WBJEEB) had instructed centre-in-charges to provide candidates with sufficient drinking water and if possible, ORS. Moreover, candidates were given liberty to take transparent water bottles inside examination centres.
Considering power cuts as a general phenomenon during summer times, the Board had instructed the centre-in-charges to ensure generator availability in case of any such emergency. Arrangement of generators is obligatory, a Board official informed.
One candidate at Sarojini Naidu College fainted during the exam and was immediately attended to by a doctor. Apart from this, the Board informed that the examination took place smoothly.
On Sundays, the number of Metro services operational are lesser compared to weekdays but considering the examination, 140 services were plied instead of 130 services. Moreover, Metro service on the Blue Line started from 8:30 am instead of 9 am.
The timing for the last service remained unchanged. This year, the number of female candidates who have enrolled for the examination have jumped from 32,945 in 2023 to 43,121.According to the Board, one of the contributing reasons for the increase in the number of female candidates is the reduction of the registration fees for reserved and unreserved
category women.
The total number of registration has also increased by 17,773 candidates. In 2023, the number of candidates registered was 1,24,919. It has increased to 1,42,692 in 2024.