Ministry of Education Implements Structural Reconfiguration to Enhance JEE Administrative Framework

In a sweeping move, the Ministry of Education (MoE) has undertaken a comprehensive restructuring of the Joint Entrance Examination (JEE) Apex Board (JAB), signaling a pivotal transformation in the admission process for undergraduate engineering programmes across prestigious institutions like IITs, NITs and other Centrally Funded Technical Institutions (CFTIs).

According to the official notification, the National Testing Agency (NTA) has been entrusted with the responsibility of overseeing all information technology related facets, encompassing both pre and post-examination operations, including the seamless online submission of application forms. The notification explicitly mentioned that NTA may solicit support from NIC/C-DAC when the need arises.

Professor SK Jain, distinguished as the Vice-Chancellor of BHU, assumes the crucial role of Chairperson at JAB. Joining him are esteemed Directors of IIT Bombay, IIT Guwahati, IIT Madras, NIT Rourkela, NIT Surathkal, IIIT Hyderabad, IIIT Lucknow, IIITM Gwalior, along with representatives from the state governments of Madhya Pradesh, Assam, Manipur, Maharashtra, Uttar Pradesh and the notable Punjab Engineering College. Additionally, luminaries such as the Chairman of CBSE, the Director General of NIC, NTA, and C-DAC as well as the Additional Secretary/Joint Secretary (TE) of MoE, have been appointed as members, roping in a wealth of expertise into the board's composition.

“The JAB would have a permanent secretariat which would be provided by the National Testing Agency (NTA). JAB would be assisted by the JEE Interface Group comprising of five members drawn from NTA, IITs and a senior representative of Indian Statistical Institutes (ISI) nominated by the Joint Apex Board,” the MoE said in its official notification.

The notice further added, “NTA will provide the administrative and logistic support for the conduct of JEE (Main) across the country. The permanent secretariat of the JAB, housed in the NTA, will use the existing infrastructure, surplus of financial resources accumulated since creation of the first JAB and the manpower being contributed by the present JEE (Main) unit, with a small number of posts created as per Cabinet/ CEE approval, if required, including that of the Executive Director, based on the actual requirement”.

The latest announcement establishes JAB as the ultimate authority in shaping policies, rules, and regulations governing the conduct of JEE (Main and Advanced).

This ambitious reformation of the JAB structure and administrative modality promises a paradigm shift in engineering admissions in the country in keeping with the MoE’s commitment towards fostering overall academic excellence.