Kolkata, Aug. 30 -- The West Bengal Joint Entrance Examinations Board (WBJEEB) has reversed its earlier restriction and allowed candidates who have already taken admission through the Centralised Online Counselling process of WBJEE-2026 to participate in the Common Online Decentralised Counselling for undergraduate engineering, technology, architecture and pharmacy programmes.

In a corrigendum issued on August 30, the board said the decision followed requests from various stakeholders. It modified its August 27 notification, which had barred candidates who had participated in centralised counselling, accepted a seat and completed admission from taking part in the decentralised process.

The restriction had drawn objections from students, parents and sections of the academic community, who argued that already-admitted candidates should also be allowed to seek vacant seats in preferred institutions or courses.

The decentralised counselling is being conducted to fill seats remaining vacant after centralised counselling. This year, WBJEEB is conducting a common online process instead of institutions separately handling vacant seats.

Higher Education Minister Jagannath Chattopadhyay said the government would not compromise on merit and that the corrigendum was issued after the concerns came to its notice.

"There were some apprehensions among students regarding the Joint Entrance Examination Board's decentralised counselling. The present government will not compromise on merit. At the same time, the government is in favour of bringing under control the admission of students who are not on the merit list in the name of college-based admissions," Chattopadhyay said.

He urged students and parents not to panic, adding that this was the first time the board was conducting decentralised counselling in a regulated manner.

The board said a revised Online Decentralised Counselling Notification and counselling schedule would be published separately on its official website.

Published by HT Digital Content Services with permission from Millennium Post.