JAIPUR: The AIIMS Common Recruitment Examination-5 re-examination was cancelled at an iON Digital Zone centre in Jaipur on Monday after repeated server failures disrupted the test. A day earlier, technical problems at the same facility had affected the NEET-PG examination.
The exam started after a delay of about 30 minutes, but technical problems resurfaced within 20 minutes, preventing candidates from continuing the test smoothly. The disruptions led to confusion at the centre and prompted candidates and their parents to stage a protest. They raised slogans and questioned the arrangements.
Additional Deputy Commissioner of Police Lalit Sharma said police persuaded them to end the protest. “The candidates were pacified through counselling. AIIMS has cancelled the examination at this particular centre for the time being,” Sharma said. Candidates demanded a fresh examination, saying the technical failures had denied them an equal and fair opportunity to take the test.
The disruption came a day after the NEET-PG examination at the same centre was affected by repeated power outages and computer malfunctions. The National Board of Examinations in Medical Sciences subsequently announced a re-examination for the affected candidates. The AIIMS CRE-5 examination was initially held on July 25. It was rescheduled for August 31 after candidates objected to questions they claimed were outside the prescribed syllabus.
Congress leader and AICC general secretary Sachin Pilot criticised the arrangements for the two examinations and sought accountability.
“Two days, two important examinations. If students are forced to protest over such problems, it is clear that the examination system has not improved as expected,” Pilot said in a social media post. He demanded that responsibility be fixed for the shortcomings in conducting both examinations and that the concerns of affected candidates be addressed.
AIIMS and the exam agency had not issued a detailed response by the time of filing this report on the cause of Monday’s technical failure or the schedule for a fresh exam.
