The University Grant Commission (UGC) has issued fresh guidelines governing research students, and noted that PhD and MPhil degrees are not directly equivalent to the NET conducted by UGC, unless the requirement of qualified guides is fulfilled. This has hit PhD students hard at the Hindi University because there are not enough qualified guides. The vice chancellor now faces the challenge of appointing filling the vacant posts in the university, by using his emergency powers as the appointment committee has not been completely constituted, to accommodate all PhD students.
The new guidelines says MPhil is no longer equivalent to NET while PhD holders will be eligible for lecturership only if they have followed the new rules laid down by UGC. The new rules limit the number of candidates under a guide, thus a professor can guide only eight PhD students while associate professors and assistant professors can guide six and four students respectively.
As there are not enough professors, the university is now returning applications it had invited for PhDs. The affected students include 33 internal students, who are aggrieved by the decision.
Vice chancellor VN Rai has now accelerated the interviews to till posts of professors, associate professors and assistant professors, which were vacant since the implementation of the 10th plan. "The university has also demanded several teaching and non-teaching posts from UGC in the 11th plan, most of which are likely to be sanctioned," university sources said.
The interviews for the vacant teaching posts were concluded on Friday, but the posts are likely to remain vacant for some time because the appointing authority, the Executive Council of the university, has not been constituted properly with the administration awaiting appointment of seven members, who are nominated by the President of India. In view of this, the posts may be remain vacant for some more time.
Talking to TOI, director of press information bureau Mamta Verma could not confirm the date when nominations to the executive council will be completed and shifted the buck to the joint secretary, Sunil Kumar. However, Kumar could not be contacted.
The university act has a provision giving emergency powers to the vice chancellors of central universities to take a decision on behalf of any legal body of the university, if it is not constituted, and take an approval later. "This may be a bit difficult for him as his predecessor, Prof G Gopinathan had generated much controversy over this," a university official said.
However, the current problems are also a creation of the vice chancellor himself, since he allowed some newly appointed lecturers, who had no experience of teaching, to guide PhD scholars, making such guidance invalid now.
The convener of the Chhatra Sangharsh Samiti, Rajiv, who had challenged the previous vice chancellor's use of emergency powers through a PIL in the Nagpur High Court, said, "For Rai, this is the ideal time to us the emergency powers, as the Executive Council is not constituted. His predecessor had defied the existing EC and its objections over several appointments."
The aggrieved candidates are now hoping the VC uses his emergency powers to appoint more faculty in time and avoid the process of refusing PhD applications.
The new guidelines says MPhil is no longer equivalent to NET while PhD holders will be eligible for lecturership only if they have followed the new rules laid down by UGC. The new rules limit the number of candidates under a guide, thus a professor can guide only eight PhD students while associate professors and assistant professors can guide six and four students respectively.
As there are not enough professors, the university is now returning applications it had invited for PhDs. The affected students include 33 internal students, who are aggrieved by the decision.
Vice chancellor VN Rai has now accelerated the interviews to till posts of professors, associate professors and assistant professors, which were vacant since the implementation of the 10th plan. "The university has also demanded several teaching and non-teaching posts from UGC in the 11th plan, most of which are likely to be sanctioned," university sources said.
The interviews for the vacant teaching posts were concluded on Friday, but the posts are likely to remain vacant for some time because the appointing authority, the Executive Council of the university, has not been constituted properly with the administration awaiting appointment of seven members, who are nominated by the President of India. In view of this, the posts may be remain vacant for some more time.
Talking to TOI, director of press information bureau Mamta Verma could not confirm the date when nominations to the executive council will be completed and shifted the buck to the joint secretary, Sunil Kumar. However, Kumar could not be contacted.
The university act has a provision giving emergency powers to the vice chancellors of central universities to take a decision on behalf of any legal body of the university, if it is not constituted, and take an approval later. "This may be a bit difficult for him as his predecessor, Prof G Gopinathan had generated much controversy over this," a university official said.
However, the current problems are also a creation of the vice chancellor himself, since he allowed some newly appointed lecturers, who had no experience of teaching, to guide PhD scholars, making such guidance invalid now.
The convener of the Chhatra Sangharsh Samiti, Rajiv, who had challenged the previous vice chancellor's use of emergency powers through a PIL in the Nagpur High Court, said, "For Rai, this is the ideal time to us the emergency powers, as the Executive Council is not constituted. His predecessor had defied the existing EC and its objections over several appointments."
The aggrieved candidates are now hoping the VC uses his emergency powers to appoint more faculty in time and avoid the process of refusing PhD applications.