Avoid middlemen, OJEE aspirants cautioned

BHUBANESWAR: The students awaiting the Odisha Joint Entrance Examination (OJEE) results, would have to go through the choice locking themselves and deposit the admission fees on time to avoid problems, said O-JEE officials.With the OJEE results round the corner, the anticipation among the one lakh students who had appeared for the entrance exam is high. But basing on numerous reports of students being cheated of their preferred college after the counselling was over, the officials are cautioning against using services of any middlemen during the admission process. “We have found that students, mostly from the rural regions of Odisha, are getting cheated during the counselling process. It seems that the problem occurs mostly during the choice locking, when the middlemen choose the colleges the students have not opted for,” said OJEE secretary Priyabrata Sahoo.Students, usually unaware of the change in college often come back complaining that they were not given the college of their choice. Students mostly from rural region fall for this trap when they approach a middleman to get information. “It is during the choice locking that the swap happens. The broker might choose the college from where he might be getting commission,” said Priyabrata. He said the students need to be extra cautious with their password and do the choice locking themselves to avoid such trouble.This year also the counselling will be web based. OJEE will be opening 20 nodal centres from where the document verification, choice locking and allotment will take place. When asked why they cannot stop the brokers from entering the centres, Priyabrata said, “The middlemen are mostly introduced as guardians by the students, we cannot do anything then. Students should not trust anyone with their passwords or the choice locking process.”Clarifying another point, Priyabrata stressed on timely deposit of admission fees during the counselling. Students who do not pay the admission fees in time  cannot be considered for auto upgradation if there are any vacant seats. He also suggests that the students should give as many choices of colleges during counselling stating that they can give up to 500 colleges. “This way they can ensure that they will get one of the colleges that they had selected. Providing limited choice harms the students’ prospects,” said Priyabrata.