CHENNAI: Smriti Muralishankar, a Class 12 student in Coimbatore, has spent the last four years burning the midnight oil to prepare for one of the toughest exams in the country – the JEE. Only two weeks ago did she realise that she was not eligible to write the test as she was born abroad and didn’t have an Indian citizenship. Shreya Venkatesh, who has been studying in a Chennai school for the last 10 years, also found herself in a similar situation when she came to know that only Indian citizens can take the JEE (Main), which serves as the screening test for JEE (Advanced), mandatory for entry into IITs.The IIT dreams of these two and thousands across the country have been shattered because they were born abroad, to Indian parents who went overseas for higher education and jobs. They may have been studying in India for years now, but when it comes to applying for higher education in central and state institutions these students find themselves denied of opportunities open to their peers born in India.For years now, such students have been paying a hefty fee (around nine times of what is paid by Indian students) to study in a state institution. But, since the JEE was split in 2014, they have lost out on the opportunity to sit for the IIT entrance test.Students at the first convocation of IIT Gandhinagar (TOI Photo)Foreign, Overseas Citizenship of India (OCI) and Person of Indian Origin (PIO) category students are not eligible for admission to NITs, IIITs and other centrally-funded institutions through JEE (Main). They can only be admitted through the Direct Admission to Students Abroad (DASA) channel using their SAT 2 scores. But, admission to IITs is only through JEE (Advanced), which requires the students to figure among the top 1.5 lakh candidates in JEE (Main).“We came to India four years ago mainly because we wanted Smriti to prepare well and join an IIT. She has been putting in a lot of effort. But, it looks like all the money and effort are a waste,” said Aravinda Muralishankar, Smriti’s mother. “We want her to be given the chance to take the exam, regardless of whether she gets a seat or not,” Muralishankar added.When Shreya Venkatesh realised that she is unlikely to be sitting for the JEE (Main) or JEE (Advanced), she started preparing for the SAT 2 test to get a seat in an NIT or IIIT. “It’s not fair. Not only is she missing an opportunity to seek admission to IITs, but we also have to pay in dollars as we have to go through the foreign nationals category. We are Indians and living in Chennai, but our children are denied any opportunity join an Indian institution,” said Shreya’s mother, Menaka Venkatesan.An official with JEE office at IIT-Madras said, “A candidate can gain admission to IITs only through JEE (Advanced). The candidates should address their queries to the board handling JEE (Main).” Repeated phone calls to the JEE (Main) office went unanswered.IIT KanpurThe students hope that the officials will take their case into consideration and make some changes in the process before December 18, the last date for submission of applications for JEE (Main). But, many have applied for admission to universities abroad rather than wait for the changes. Educational consultant D Nedunchezhiyan of Technocrat India College Finder said, “The situation is ironical, and is a loss to our institutions as well.”He said IITs should at least accept the SAT 2 scores of these students for admission. “There are many bright students who secure good marks in SAT going to NITs because IITs are out of bounds for them. A lot of IT professionals who went abroad during the IT boom in the 90s are coming back, but the brain drain may continue to happen in this generation too as their children are forced to go overseas to study,” Nedunchezhiyan said.— Till 2014, admissions to NITs and IIITs were based on AIEEE and entry to IITs on JEE. But only Indian nationals could take AIEEE, and others entered NITs and IIITs through Direct Admission to Students Abroad (DASA) channel. No such restriction for JEE.— In 2014, JEE was split. JEE(Main) replaced AIEEE, but the bar on non-Indian citizens remained. Since JEE(Main) also served as the screening test for JEE (Advanced), which is a must for admission to IITs, non-Indian students remained out of the entire process— The split has affected children born overseas to Indians who had travelled for higher education and jobs to other countries years ago and have now come back— They can still get into NITs and IIITs through DASA, but not to IITs because JEE (Advanced) is the only gatewayJEE (Main) paper 1 (BE / BTech) offline exam – April 4, 2015JEE (Main) paper 1 (BE / BTech) online exam – April 10 and 11, 2015JEE (Main) paper 2 (BArch / BPlanning) offline exam – April 4, 2015JEE (Advanced) – May 24, 2015