KOCHI: The registration process for the National Board of Examinations (NBE) - entrusted with the task of conducting the PG medical examinations - which works on a first come, first served basis can be discriminatory toward the less privileged. The real mess caused by the NEET-PG registration which opened on Tuesday is a case in point.Before getting to the crux of the matter, here is the background. For a state like Kerala, which has constantly thrown up a high number of candidates for the PG Medical Entrance, a mere 1,500 slots were allotted in the four centres - Thiruvananthapuram, Thrissur, Kozhikode, and Kannur. This despite more than 12,000 doctors taking the exam.
The mad rush in the six-step registration process led to the NBE server crashing, with the issues still not sorted out even 48 hours on. Why has it left the less privileged at the mercy of the system? Consider this: According to the 2017 State of Internet Report, only 10 percent in India have net connection with a speed of over 15 Mbps.Those who have faster Internet connectivity, at home or friends’ places, have had the opportunity of logging into the Internet as early as 1 am!
Aswani Raj, a doctor from Thiruvananthapuram said, “I couldn’t get to the final step even after logging in at 3 pm on Tuesday. It was 24 hours later I finally got access to the ‘centre selection’ option. By then all centres in Kerala had been filled up. Even major cities like Bengaluru and Chennai had no centres available.” Aswani, who will be eight months pregnant by the time the examination comes around in January, was left with no option other than to skip it this time round.
The technical glitch during the registration process proved costly for several doctors. Rajeev C, a medic from Kottayam, finally got the centre allotted at 1 am on Wednesday after trying for six hours. After failed cash transactions, to his utter shock, he was left with Navi Mumbai as the closest centre.
“To my knowledge, none of the OBC candidates has got their exam centre in Kerala. The OBC category window was not functioning until 10pm on Tuesday. By then, all the centres in Kerala and other major cities in neighbouring states got filled up. I had to choose Madurai,” said Farah P N of Kochi.
The exam registration fee is `3,750. “In the process, I lost money thrice owing to failed transactions. I am told it will take few months for the amount to be reimbursed,” Rajeev said.Don Thomas, one of the lucky ones said, “ I got the centre in Kerala, though I had to try for five hours. As I was part of a coaching centre, we had better access.” The candidates who tried to approach the NBE amid the confusion failed to get any respite. All the candidates whom ‘Express’ spoke to testified their calls and emails remained unanswered. The NBE media department did not respond to this reporter’s calls and email, as well.