Day one of JEE Mains exams, for admission in engineering colleges across India, passed off peacefully on Tuesday amid strict restrictions and special precautionary measures taken at all the centres across five cities – Ranchi, Jamshedpur, Dhanbad, Bokaro and Hazaribagh.

Loudspeakers were installed at an examination centre in Ranchi’s Tupudana locality to remind students about maintaining social distancing. Besides, circles were also marked at the entry to ensure that students do not come close to each other.

The examinees were asked to remove masks that they were wearing and asked to wear special triple layer masks provided at the examination centre in Tupudana. The body temperature of all the examinees was checked using a thermal thermometer before entering the exam hall. A separate isolation room was also set up for those students who showed symptoms of Covid-19 infection, the examinees said.

Despite all the precautionary measures, around 190 students missed the first sitting of the exam at the Tupudana centre. “Around 190 of the 410 students were absent during the first sitting of the exam at Tupudana centre,” said city coordinator of JEE Main Ram Singh.

A thermal scanner being used to check a student at an examination centre in Dhanbad on Tuesday. Gautam Dey

Singh, however, said that many students, who are satisfied with their performance in the first round of JEE Mains, do not appear for the second round, which is why the 190 students may have missed the exam on Tuesday. The first round of JEE Mains was held earlier this year, he added.

Around 23,000 students are supposed to appear for the JEE Mains exams at eight centres spread across five cities in Jharkhand till September 6. The exams will be conducted in two shifts in most of the centres, sources said.

Students at the Tupudana centre in Ranchi were mostly satisfied with the papers. However, some of them said that the mathematics paper was a difficult. “I was very nervous initially, but everything went smoothly after the exams began,” said Puja Mahto, an examinee from Gumla, who travelled to Ranchi by a private car on Tuesday to appear for the exam.

In Dhanbad, 156 students appeared for two papers of JEE main in two batches at ION Digital zone on Barwaddah Road, where one of two centres have been set up. The other centre is at Perth Digital Zone, Kolakusma.

Sub divisional officer Raj Maheshwaram said students were not inconvenienced in any way. “We arranged sufficient vehicles for transporting them to examination centres. Hotels have also been told to cooperate with examinees coming from other districts,” he said, referring to those from Giridih, Jamtara and Deoghar.

At ION Digital Zone, a student of Madhupur in Deoghar said, “The BArch paper comprising mathematics, general aptitude and drawing was average. The aptitude and drawing section was easy.”

Jyoti Kumari, a student of Moonidih, said the mathematic section was slightly lengthier in the B Arch paper. “The overall the experience was good as no questions came from outside class XI and XII syllabus,” she said, adding that arrangements were exemplary and all precautions were taken.