Joint Entrance Exam (JEE) exams held amid stringent precautions in India

The Joint Entrance Exam (JEE)-Mains for admission to engineering colleges began on Tuesday amid stringent precautions and social distancing measures in view of COVID-19 pandemic. Above, students wearing protective face masks wait to enter an examination centre in Ahmedabad.

The exam which has been postponed twice in view of COVID-19 pandemic is scheduled from September 1 to 6.

"While all the candidates are asked to go to the exam centres with masks and sanitisers, once they enter the centre, they have to use the masks provided by the examination authority.

A student gets her temperature measured in Ahmedabad. Increasing the number of examination centres, alternate seating plans, fewer candidates per room and staggered entry and exit are among the steps the National Testing Agency has taken for safely conducting the crucial exam.

Each candidate will be offered a 3-ply mask at the time of entry and expected to wear the same during the examination in order to avoid any form of unfair means at the time of examination. Above, a student wearing face shield, masks and gloves waits to enter an examination centre in Kolkata.

There has been a growing chorus for postponing JEE-Mains and medical entrance exam NEET amid the rising number of COVID-19 cases. The Supreme Court had earlier dismissed a plea seeking postponement of the two exams amid a spurt in the number of COVID-19 cases, saying a "precious year" of students cannot be wasted and life has to go on.

Students arrive at an examination centre for Joint Entrance Examination (JEE ) Main-2020, one of the most competitive entrance exams for entry to top national engineering colleges, in Noida.

While the governments of Odisha, Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh have assured students that they will provide transportation to candidates, a group of IIT alumni and students have also launched a portal to provide transport facilities to exam centres for the candidates in need.

A student gets her temperature taken as she arrives at an examination centre in Noida. Before entering the exam halls, the temperature of students was checked and sanitisers were also given.

Staggered entry and exit for candidates, sanitisers at the gate, distribution of masks and maintaining social distancing as candidates queued up, were among the scenes witnessed at the exam centres across the country. Above, candidates undergo thermal scanning at an examination centre in Kolkata.