Glitches in registration for exam leave candidates worried

Examination centres in the State were filled within minutes after the registration opened online.

Glitches in the registration process for Postgraduate medical entrance tests have left many candidates worried. Exam centres within Kerala and neighbouring States for the National Eligibility-cum-Entrance Test for Postgraduates (NEET-PG) were reportedly filled only minutes after the window for the national online exam opened last Thursday. 

The candidates, who may now need to travel to faraway places to take the test, have urged the government to resolve the serious lapses in the registration process. 

The father of a PG aspirant in the city told The Hindu that his son was allotted a centre in Gurgaon. Expressing strong displeasure over the lapses in the registration process, he said the government should allow registered candidates (who were allotted centres outside the State) to apply again in centres within the State. The stance taken by the exam authorities that such a chance could not be given was against the interests of the candidates, he said. 

According to the procedure to register for NEET, candidates had to first pay the examination fee at an Axis bank branch and then register for the examination online, using the voucher given to them by the bank. The website for registration was inaccessible for most candidates in the city as the servers were down due to overload. 

An aspirant said she had reached the bank to pay the fee almost three hours before the beginning of banking hours on the first day of registration. “But I could not register, as the website had crashed hours after the window was opened for registration. There was no centre in the State and nearby States by the afternoon when I could register for the exam. I have a baby and am still worried about how to travel to the centre in New Delhi where I have to take the exam,” she said. 

The NEET-PG exam registration is being held from October 4 to November 12. The examination dates are from November 23 to December 6. 

Testing company Prometric, which is responsible for the online registration of candidates and also for the conduct of the examination, said some waiting time could be expected depending on the candidates’ Internet connection speed and the number of candidates accessing the registration system.

Availability was on a first come, first served basis, and all candidates should select the best available exam slot, register and complete their sessions as quickly as possible, the company said in a release.