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As if the mental stress and trauma the medical students in the country are facing are not sufficient, new challenges trouble the National Eligibility cum Entrance Test for Postgraduate (NEET-UG) 2024 candidates. The medical entrance examination for the postgraduation, initially scheduled on June 23 was postponed to August 11 owing to credible intelligence inputs suggesting potential ‘impersonation’ or manipulation attempts.
Although the postponement gives a little extra time for preparation, several candidates across the country are facing issues with selecting exam centres for NEET-PG 2024. Candidates allege that they are unable to change their login ID and password to select the exam centre.
In a notice released by the National Board of Examination in Medical Sciences (NBEMS) on July 18, it said, "All those candidates who were issued admit cards for NEET-PG 2024 shall be required to choose their test city again by exercising their choices of preferred test cities during an online window which shall be opened from 19th July 2024 to 22nd July 2024 (till 11:55PM). The window can be accessed through NBEMS website https://natboard.edu.in using the NEET-PG 2024 applicant login credentials."
Taking the issue of candidates on X (formerly Twitter), National Council Coordinator of the Indian Medical Association - Junior Doctors Network (IMA-JDN), Dr Dhruv Chauhan tweeted.
Speaking to EdexLive, Dr Sadiq Hussain from Rajasthan said, "The site to choose the exam centre was unreachable because of a Microsoft outage on July 19th from 4 to 5 pm. When the website was live, attempts to log in failed as it said that the old password expired. However, no email or message was delivered while creating the new password."
On July 19, Microsoft 365 faced a global outage. A Crowdstrike update led to PCs with Windows 10 to crash, and stalled airlines, banking and many other services. Crowdstrike provides advanced cybersecurity solutions for Windows PCs.
"Around 8 pm the password was changed but the site crashed. When I tried to log in, my credentials were said to be invalid. I tried to log in from multiple devices and browsers, but to no avail," Hussain alleged, fearing that if the exam centre is not chosen, he will have to travel to any random location in India. "If I don't choose the centre within three days, I will be allotted a centre anywhere in India. As a resident of Rajasthan, I can get a centre in Kerala too," he told EdexLive.
"These issues happening before our exam is heartbreaking. My mental health has been reduced to ashes," Hussain admitted, stating that over 1,000 candidates are facing the same issue.
Facing the same issue, another candidate from Punjab, on condition of anonymity, said, "I am a government medical officer in Patiala city. Firstly, it is challenging to get leaves to prepare for the exam. And now, issues like these are frustrating." The candidate told EdexLive that reaching out to NBE and filling out the grievance forms has yielded no results.
The students who spoke to EdexLive remarked that they reached out to the officials, however, allegedly there wasn't any satisfactory or problem-solving response.
Another candidate facing a similar issue, took to X to express his anguish.
According to the NBEMS notice, the NEET-PG 2024 examination shall be conducted in 185 test cities across the country. The allocated centre confirmation will be given on July 29, 2024.
"The test city so allocated shall be communicated to all concerned candidates through email on 29th July 2024 at their registered email IDs. The test centre venue in the test city allocated shall be intimated through admit card which shall be released on 8 th August 2024 at NBEMS website," the notice read.
