JEE Advanced 2023: Caught in Manipur violence, Delhi siblings miss IIT JEE application deadline

NEW DELHI: Despite qualifying for it, siblings Shubham Say Ahuja and Sristi Say Ahuja could not register for the Joint Entrance Examination (JEE) Advanced, the entrance test for the premier Indian Institutes of Technology (IIT) as they were stranded in violence-hit Manipur without internet until May 9. Registration for JEE Advanced 2023 had opened on April 30 and closed on May 7. Also called IIT JEE, it is being conducted by IIT Guwahati this year and students’ groups have sought extension of the registration deadline.

“I was posted as a general manager, National Highways and Infrastructure Development Corporation Limited at Churachandpur, Manipur and somehow reached New Delhi on May 9. But by then the registration was closed,” candidate’s father Ajay Kumar Rajak told Careers360. The family is originally from Delhi.

Only candidates scoring in the top 2.5 lakh in the preliminary national-level exam, JEE Main are eligible to write the JEE Advanced. JEE Main 2023 results were declared on April 29 but by then there were already sparks of violence and internet shutdown in Churachandpur district. JEE Advanced 2023 date is June 4.

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JEE Advanced 2023: Both eligible

Shubham has scored in the 94.7 percentile in the JEE Main 2023 and Shrishti, in 93.75 percentile – both well above the JEE Main cut-off. They shared their details with an acquaintance outside the region who checked their results on the National Testing Agency (NTA) website.

Once they got their JEE Main result, Rajak tried desperately to get his family out of the state and back home to Delhi. But the family was stuck till May 9 when they were finally able to leave. By then, registration had closed.

Once in Delhi, Rajak started trying to contact Bishnupada Mandal, IIT Guwahati professor and organising chairperson of JEE Advanced 2023 at NTA. He was hoping to persuade the authorities to reopen registration. He got through on phone today, May 12, but was disappointed.

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“When we told him that the internet was shutdown with no access to the network anywhere along with shoot-at-sight orders by the state government in Manipur, the situation was beyond our control. But the chairperson did not provide any support, instead avoided the situation, saying it is something that “happens every year and many people come for request”,” alleged Rajak.

Appeals to education minister

Rajak has also written to the education minister Dharmendra Pradhan as well as Nitin Gadkari, union minister of road transport and highways of India.

“My children are demotivated and have been preparing for the exam for the last one year. Their year will be wasted,” he said.

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On Thursday, the Student Federation of India (SFI) has written to Dharmedra Pradhan asking for the JEE Advanced registration window to be reopened. According to The Hindu, Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) has also sought an extension. Mandal told The Hindu: “Usually, the applications are received in four or five days. This year, we had eight days for registration and one day for payment of the fees. Dates were quite longer and a good number of candidates registered and we do not have any scope for extending the date now.”