Jaipur, August 31: A NEET-PG candidate on Monday raised concerns over repeated power failures at the iON Digital Zone iDZ Sitapura centres in Jaipur, saying that the electricity supply was disrupted 13 times during the exam.
The candidate said the technical issues caused significant difficulties for students appearing for the medical entrance examination on Sunday, who had prepared for months for the test.
Speaking to ANI, NEET student Sohani Singh said the incident was "completely wrong" and highlighted the difficulties faced by students who prepare for such competitive exams for years.
"In my opinion, what happened was completely wrong. Students prepare for these exams for such a long time, and the power went out 13 times in just 90 minutes. They really ought to try and help the students. Students prepare for so long and put in so much hard work; their parents invest a lot of money and resources. This is very wrong; their futures are being jeopardised. It is truly unacceptable," Singh added.
Singh said both state and central governments should take steps to support students and prevent such incidents from affecting their careers.
"It is the responsibility of both the state and central governments to help their students and see what can be done. Otherwise, you end up demotivating the very future of our nation. You are putting their futures at stake. Why would anyone want to do anything for our country if they don't receive even the slightest bit of help?" she added.
The NEET aspirant further claimed that similar issues were reported at an exam centre the following day as well.
"There was an exam there today as well, and similar problems were occurring again. A mistake might happen once, but a second time implies negligence. It simply shouldn't happen repeatedly," Singh said.
Meanwhile, the National Board of Examinations in Medical Sciences (NBEMS) on Sunday decided to conduct a re-examination for 2,445 candidates after the NEET-PG 2026 exam at iON Digital Zone (iDZ) centres in Jaipur's Sitapura could not be completed due to repeated power supply failures and technical glitches, with affected candidates calling the disruption a major setback for their future.
NBEMS has scheduled the fresh examination on September 5 at 3 pm in Jaipur for candidates affected at the two Sitapura centres. The examination body has also constituted a three-member committee headed by Gayatri Rathore, Principal Secretary, Health and Family Welfare Department, Rajasthan government, to investigate the internal power supply failure that disrupted the exam.
Further speaking about concerns over shifting exam centres, Singh said many students in Jaipur's Gopalpura Bypass and Riddhi Siddhi Circle areas have built their routines around the availability of coaching institutes, hostels and other facilities.
"There are many students like me here. So many of my classmates have rented hostels nearby. For the students here, this location has developed into an ecosystem for so many students who have arranged their accommodation this way. So many people have set up coaching centres and bookshops here; their entire system here is being uprooted, and this is completely wrong," she said.
She added that moving students to distant locations would create additional challenges.
"Because the place they are moving us to--herding us like sheep and goats--is very far from the rest of Jaipur. This is a central location where any student who wants to can easily commute here," Singh said.
"There are so many students here; an entire ecosystem has developed here. And for the students who are preparing for NEET, this creates huge difficulties because they have an established routine. If you shift them so far away, think of the study routine--how much time will be wasted just on the hour-long commute back and forth? So, when will they study?" Singh questioned.
"Coaching classes last four hours; on top of that, they have to attend school, which takes another four to six hours. So, what are the students supposed to do? How will they prepare?... Students already face so many challenges, and if you move us even further away from our homes, how will those students prepare? How will they study?" Singh added.
Reacting to the power failure at the exam centre, another candidate, Dheeraj Chaudhary, said the power failure occurred around 13 times during the examination and that answers marked by him disappeared from the screen after the outages.
Chaudhary told ANI that he was relieved after NBEMS announced the re-examination but added that the major concern among candidates was the nature of the new question paper and regaining the confidence they had during the first attempt.
Speaking to ANI, Dharmendra Chaudhary, President of Jaipur Association of Resident Doctors (JARD), said many doctors appearing for NEET-PG are also working in hospitals and balancing their duties with exam preparation.
He said the cancellation of the examination has added another burden for candidates who will now have to prepare again. He urged the Central Government and the conducting agency to ensure stronger arrangements to prevent such incidents in the future.
Dr Chaudhary also said exam centres repeatedly facing technical or systemic failures should be investigated and barred from conducting future examinations.
Meanwhile, a total of 2,65,980 candidates appeared for the NEET-PG examination, with the examination successfully completed for approximately 2,63,535 candidates. (ANI)
