JAIPUR: A power outage led to the cancellation of yet another national-level examination at Jaipur’s Sitapura on Monday, marking the third major exam disruption linked to electricity and technical failures in the city in less than 10 days and intensifying concerns over the reliability of its power infrastructure.The AIIMS common recruitment examination retest at the iON Digital Zone IDZ Sitapura was cancelled after a power failure repeatedly disrupted the computer-based test. The cancellation came just a day after the NEET-PG 2026 examination at two centres in the same Sitapura area was hit by similar disruptions, leaving 2,445 candidates unable to complete their test.The All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), Delhi, said the affected candidates at the Sitapura centre would now be allowed to take the examination again on Sept 7, with revised admit cards to be issued through the examination portal.
Monday’s examination was itself a retest after the original AIIMS common recruitment examination, conducted nationwide in the last week of July, was cancelled following complaints about out-of-syllabus questions.Candidates said the test, scheduled to begin at 9am, started around 30 minutes late and was repeatedly interrupted as computer systems shut down. Several students protested outside the centre, demanding a refund of examination fees and the closure of the facility.“The examination scheduled on Aug 31 in the morning shift at ION Digital Zone IDZ Sitapura, Jaipur, was initially interrupted due to an unforeseen power failure beyond the control of the examination authorities,” AIIMS Delhi said in a statement.“Although the power supply was subsequently restored and the centre was made ready for resumption of the examination, it could not be continued due to the circumstances that developed at the centre,” it added.After reviewing the matter, AIIMS said the competent authority had decided to reconduct the examination only for candidates affected at the Sitapura centre.The latest disruption follows Sunday’s NEET-PG examination, when power outages allegedly caused computer systems to repeatedly shut down at two Sitapura centres. Candidates said the examination, scheduled to start at 9am, was delayed by up to an hour and that repeated system failures affected their performance.“We would attempt two questions, then the system would shut down and we’d be asked to wait for it to restart. Once restarted, the system would shut down again. This happened at least 10-15 times,” candidate Vishnu Sharma said.The National Board of Examinations in Medical Sciences (NBEMS) subsequently ordered a re-examination for affected candidates, scheduled for Sept 5 at 3pm.The Union health ministry said 2,445 candidates at the two iON Digital Zone iDZ Sitapura centres could not complete the NEET-PG examination due to internal power supply issues attributable to TCS Ltd, the agency conducting the examination.The incident triggered political reactions, with Rajasthan Congress chief Govind Singh Dotasra calling it a “double-failure” system and questioning the government’s ability to conduct examinations properly. Congress MLA Sachin Pilot also raised concerns over accountability for what he described as systemic failures.Sunday’s NEET-PG disruption was the second national-level examination in Jaipur to be affected by power-related problems in less than 10 days. On Aug 22, the National Testing Agency ordered a retest for 192 candidates who appeared for the All India AYUSH Post Graduate Entrance Test at a Jaipur centre after an outage disrupted the computer-based examination.The repeated failures have also brought Jaipur’s broader electricity distribution network under scrutiny.While discom officials attributed recent examination disruptions to problems with internal systems at the test centres, residents in several areas said frequent tripping and prolonged outages had become a regular feature of daily life.Residents of Ganesh Nagar, Gajsinghpura, Mahapura and other localities reported repeated power cuts in recent days. A Gajsinghpura resident said the area experienced power cuts 10 to 15 times on Saturday, while residents of Mahapura said erratic electricity supply had remained a year-round problem.Experts and NGOs working in the power sector said Jaipur’s distribution infrastructure had failed to keep pace with growing household density and rising demand, particularly in areas outside the city’s core.“Household density has increased outside the core city areas but not the power network. That’s why tripping has become a regular phenomenon,” an NGO representative said, adding that the government needed to invest in augmenting transformer and transmission-line capacity.Poor maintenance has compounded the problem, according to experts, who said periodic maintenance was carried out but the quality of work was often inadequate, leading to faults and breakdowns.Questions have also been raised over monitoring of work carried out under the Revamped Distribution Sector Scheme (RDSS). An expert representative said lax monitoring in several areas was preventing infrastructure projects from adequately addressing persistent supply problems.Industry sources said the outages could not be explained simply by a shortage of electricity, particularly during daytime when solar generation contributes significantly to meeting demand.“It is understandable if power cuts occur during evenings or peak hours when there is no supply from solar plants. But when power is not available during solar hours, it points to issues of operation and management and poor power network infrastructure,” an industry representative said.With three national-level examinations disrupted or requiring retests within days, residents and candidates have called for urgent improvements in maintenance, stronger monitoring of infrastructure projects and an expansion of Jaipur’s electricity distribution network.
