20,000 more will be eligible for JEE (A) 2017

Mumbai: Twenty thousand more students will be eligible to write JEE (Advanced) 2017 after clearing JEE (Main), taking the number to 2.2 lakh. Last year, two lakh students were shortlisted. This is in keeping with the projected increase in seats by 500 in the coming year.
The decision was taken at the joint admission board meeting in Chennai on Sunday along with implementation of some other key features.JEE (A) 2017 will be organised by IIT-Madras and will be held on May 21. IITs are planning to introduce several student-friendly features, including the use of video tutorials for registration, result announcement and choice-filling.
The meeting was attended by chairmen of JEE (A) from across IITs. To fill seats reserved for SC/ST candidates, IITs have decided to relax the cut-off for aggregate marks in class XII for candidates from 70% to 65%. IITs usually have a tough time to fill seats in reserved categories such as SC/ST. The OBC non-creamy layer certificates issued after April 1 will be considered valid for JEE (A) 2017, as per the new guidelines from the ministry of personnel, public grievances and pensions.
“We are expecting the number of seats to go up by at least 500 in the next academic year. Keeping this in mind, we plan to shortlist more students next year,” said a JEE (A) official. Not all eligible candidates from JEE (Main) actually appear for JEE (A) every year. Last year, of the 1.98 lakh eligible, only 1.56 lakh registered. Nearly 21% opted out last year from one of the most competitive tests in the country.
To make the registration and admission process more student-friendly, IITs will make use of short video tutorials and SMS services extensively. “We get students from rural areas too. These aspirants are about 17 years old and they are bound to make mistakes. Based on experience, we will make use of technology to make the process more user-friendly,” said the official.
IITs have also opened opportunities for candidates from abroad, who can get admission after qualifying for the exam. The decision was earlier taken at the IIT council meeting. “We are yet to finalise details. The exam will be held only in some SAARC countries. We will release details soon,” said the official.