This is the first time that admissions are taking place under this rule at the DU. The move had triggered a string of protests at the Campus.
Granting relaxation in cut-offs to research aspirants coming from socially underprivileged sections will make “little” difference and hundreds of reserved category seats will still remain vacant, said a section of students at the Delhi University (DU). The Centre is mulling over granting five per cent relaxation in cut-offs to the above-mentioned aspirants.
The University Grants Commission (UGC) had laid down new rules for MPhil and PhD admissions in May 2016. As per the rules, applicants have to score at least 50 per cent in the entrance exam to be eligible for the interview. This is the first time that admissions are taking place under this rule at the DU. The move had triggered a string of protests at the Campus.
As per the data compiled by the students, even after a 5 per cent relaxation — at 45 percent — several departments, including Economics, Zoology, Linguistics, and Arabic, will have no candidate from the SC, ST, and OBC category. “This proves that there is no logic to this centralised number on the capping of seats. There cannot exist one objective standard for each and every subject,” said Ajeet, an MPhil (History) aspirant. Until now, every department was setting its own merit for admissions in research courses.
In some departments like Botany, Persian, Geology, and Statistics, there will be no admission in MPhil under both, general as well as reserved category, if the said criteria are followed. For instance, in Botany, the topper of MPhil entrance exam has scored 90 marks out of total 196. “While a general category candidate will require minimum 98 marks, the one seeking admission under the reserved category should also have 88.2 marks. And, since no aspirant has scored the minimum required marks, the 14 available MPhil seats are set to go vacant,” said an official from the department.
The University had declared the interview lists of candidates seeking admission in research courses in June. However, on July 23, the university introduced an “urgent notification” directing the departments to follow the new norm. The move had triggered an uproar at the campus, following which the DU had postponed interviews for all the courses. No notification has been issued regarding the interviews as of now.
Meanwhile, a group of students, who had moved to the Delhi High Court seeking relief, is set to stage a protest at the UGC on Monday. “We have been struggling against the administration since July 24 and have submitted numerous petitions to them, but to no avail. We will take this struggle forward at the UGC now,” the students said in a statement. Despite several attempts, the Vice Chancellor's office did not respond for a comment.
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