Eligibility to Mphil/PhD program set at 45 per cent.
Delhi University on Tuesday announced a relaxation of 5 per cent on to SC/ST/OBC candidates for admission into MPhil/PhD programmes. In a notification issued by the university, the relaxation has been given to the reserved category and people with disability who could not qualify due to the 50 per cent entrance eligibility, a rule mandated by the University Grants Commission (UGC). The rule was adopted by Delhi University in 2017 and made into an ordinance. After relaxation, admission eligibility is now 45 per cent.
Due to the earlier rule, there were many departments where candidates could not qualify and these included students from the general category as well. Students had protested against it and even filed a petition in the High Court. Following this, the interview for the MPhil/PhD was put on hold. The matter was even raised at the Parliament and the HRD minister had promised of action.
Even after the relaxation, students say there will be many candidates even in the general category who will not be able to qualify.
For this, the notification states that even after relaxation, a student in the reserved categories and differently abled category cannot qualify, the departments have to formulate a policy to admit from the pool of those students who have qualified the National Eligibility Test (NET).
This new provision will be made a part of clause D, Ordinance VI of the university ordinance.
The admission in MPhil/PHD programme in DU is held two ways, through the entrance test conducted by the university and then the other from those who have qualified NET. The department has been told that the interview of the students is held simultaneously both for the reserved and non-reserved category. Once the interview is done after the admission list is out, the seats would be allotted as per reservation.