Jaipur: National Testing Agency (NTA) has ordered a retest for 192 candidates who appeared for the All India AYUSH Post Graduate Entrance Test (AIAPGET) at a centre here Saturday after a power failure disrupted the computer-based exam. NTA said that of the 192 candidates scheduled to sit for the exam at the city’s Shri Satya Sai PG College, 49 could not complete it due to the power failure. The agency held a private firm tasked with conducting the exam at the centre responsible for the disruption. Affected candidates, who later protested outside the centre, said their computer systems shut down around 20 to 40 minutes into the two-hour long exam that began at 10am.
Students waiting for the exam to resume during the power failure
They also raised concerns that while waiting outside the centre during the disruption, some of the candidates discussed among themselves the questions they had attempted so far, potentially compromising the fairness of the examination.Expressing regret for the inconvenience caused to students, NTA said revised admit cards would be issued with details of the re-test, which will be held on Sept 1 at 10am at the city’s Rajasthan College of Engineering for Women.
The exam centre has a generator but was not fuctioning when it needed the most
While a senior Jaipur discom official claimed there was no disruption in power supply and chalked up the incident to internal issues at the centre in question, the incident comes on the heels of a series of embarrassing power cuts over the past three months that have disrupted several high-profile official programmes, including one in which state energy minister Heeralal Nagar was present.In another instance, on June 11, a power cut disrupted union minister Ashwini Vaishnaw’s news conference at BJP state headquarters in the city, prompting minister Nagar to order an inquiry.Saturday’s AIAPGET was conducted for a total of 36,979 registered candidates, of whom 35,837 appeared for the test at 200 centres across the country. According to the NTA, 35,788 candidates completed the exam.The agency said candidates with queries regarding the retest can contact its helpline at 011-40759000 and 011-69227700, or email aiapget@nta.ac.in.
Girls quation the arrangements of the exam centre
An aspirant trying to look inside the exam centre
