Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Guwahati is conducting Joint Entrance Exam (JEE) Advance 2023 on June 4, 2023. The candidates were allowed to fill out the application form for JEE Advanced 2023 from April 30 to May 7. As several candidates couldn't register due to internet and technical issues, they have urged the institute to extend the last date for registration.
As per reports, 2.5 lakh candidates qualified for the JEE Advanced after the JEE Main examination and there has been a steady increase in the number of applicants. On May 11, speaking to local media, the organising chairman of the examination, Bishnupada Mandal said, "The highest number of applicants in the past was 1.7 lakh. But this year, we have an increase of about 20% to 30%. This time, there is no COVID. In previous years, there was a little drop due to COVID."
Reacting to the request of students about the extension of the registration date, the chairman said, "Usually, the applications are received in four or five days. This year, we had eight days for registration and one day for payment of fees. Dates were quite long, and a good number of candidates registered, and we do not have any scope to extend the date now."
Student Organisation pitches in
Students Federation of India has written a letter to the Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan seeking his intervention in extending the date. When EdexLive spoke to All India General Secretary of SFI, Mayukh Biswas, he said, "Many parents and students approached us in Delhi on May 11. Hence, we have written to the Union Education Minister for an extension of exam registrations."
Further, he stressed, "Students from North-East especially Manipur suffered as the internet was shut due to Manipur Violence. Moreover, there are more than 40,000 students across India who weren't able to apply for the exam." When asked what can be the reason, he said, "First is the Internet Issue, second it portal was not functional in many parts of India, especially the northeast."
Similarly, The Charan Helping Hands Network from Kota, Rajasthan affirmed that more than 20 students have approached the network to help in seeking an extension on the exam registration date. Speaking more about this, P Charan, who runs the network said, "If the institute re-considers students' appeal and reopens the website at least for a day, this would benefit many students."
What can be the reasons for seeking an extension?
EdexLive spoke to Aditya Pandey, Lucknow whose application status is incomplete as per the website. Explaining his experience he said, "I completed my registration for JEE Advance on May 5, 2023. I made the required payment of ₹2,900 and downloaded the acknowledgement receipt. Today, when I checked the status on the site it was showing that I haven't made the payment and the payment got refunded back to my account."
Further, among the lot who reached out to The Helping Hand Network, several students said they were from a meagre family background like farming and had low network connectivity issues in their regions. Hearing their concerns, Charan has directed them to drop emails to the officials seeking an extension on the exam registration date. Here is what a few candidates' concerns are:
Kashish Kumari Sah, Ranchi, Jharkhand said, "Unfortunately, due to the slow functioning of the website, I was unable to complete my application in time. I had been preparing for the JEE Advanced examination for a long time, and I was extremely excited to apply for the same. However, on the day of the application, the website was running very slowly, which caused a lot of inconvenience to me. Despite my best efforts, I could not complete the application on time, which caused me a lot of distress."
Karan Gupta, a student from New Delhi said, "I was not able to fill it due to misconception. I thought that when our 12th mark sheet will be out then only we can fill out the form. Please consider my request."
Another student Nitish Kumar Yadav, from Bihar allegedly claimed the registration dates on Google were from April 30 to May 8. "During this period I appeared for the NEET exam on May 7," he said adding that by the time he tried registering, the portal was closed.
Memorandum to Ministry
As the institute has clearly stated the registration date cannot be extended, the SFI unit is planning to submit a Memorandum to the Education Ministry with a Member of Parliament (MP) recommendation. Sharing details on this, the All India General Secretary said, "We are going to submit the Memorandum as soon as after getting the recommendation from Kerala's CPI(M)'s MP V Sivadasan."
