Controversy has erupted at Rajasthan University this year following the announcement of results for the PhD entrance exam held in February. Despite the commencement of the interview process on May 1, candidates are protesting against the list of candidates called for interviews. Allegations have been raised by candidates that the university has not yet made the February exam results public, leading to uncertainty regarding candidates’ scores.
Additionally, candidates allege irregularities in the interview process. Various student organizations have been protesting consistently in this regard. Former research student representative Ram Singh Samota stated that according to University Grants Commission (UGC) regulations, candidates scoring above 50% are required to be called for interviews. However, the university administration is conducting interviews arbitrarily, disregarding UGC rules.
He further alleged that in previous PhD admissions, a reserved quota was maintained for employees’ children, which has been removed this year.
Some candidates who have appeared for the entrance exam claim that the university has called three times the number of candidates required for interviews, going against regulations that only allow twice the number of candidates to be called. Furthermore, candidates who have qualified for the Junior Research Fellowship (JRF) are supposed to be given preference in interviews after adding their marks, but the university has not yet added JRF scores. This situation is critical for candidates, as failure to secure admission this time would result in the expiration of their JRF eligibility.
Despite repeated protests, the university administration and the Chancellor have only promised to look into the matter and find a solution. However, no concrete steps have been taken yet. The final list is expected to be released on May 14.
Professor Rashmi Jain, Convener, MPET, Rajasthan University, stated, “In December 2023, we issued a notice and kept all the facts transparent. The allegations raised by candidates are baseless. Regarding the scores, everyone has their own marks, but we cannot make them public because it might lead to bias during interviews. For interview calls, we have released a list based on categories, but the actual call will be based on alphabetical order. The final list will be released on May 14.”