The Hyderabad Central University (HCU) released the results of the PhD entrance exam for the year 2023 on July 11, Tuesday, along with the hall tickets of the candidates called for interviews. However, this year, neither the names of the candidates nor the categories they belonged to were specified.
Earlier, the names of the students were given along with the hall ticket numbers and each candidate was demarcated according to their category. SC students would be marked by one star (*), ST students would be marked by two stars (**), and OBC students would be marked by a hashtag (#). This time, there has been no such distinction.
Before this, the Ambedkar Students’ Association, Hyderabad Central University (ASA-HCU) released a seven-page report on March 30, detailing a pattern of discriminatory marking of reserved category students, that is, those from Scheduled Caste (SC), Scheduled Tribe (ST), and Other Backward Classes (OBC) categories.
In the report, ASA-HCU alleges that reserved category students, who scored similar marks to general category students, were being awarded fewer marks in the interview rounds. Further, this ranking pattern “almost resembles the hierarchical caste order”, says ASA – with OBC students being awarded higher marks than SC students and ST students being awarded the lowest.
Following the release of the report, the university administration had allegedly assured that it would take action against the discrimination and introduce anti-discrimination measures.
Responding to this update, ASA-HCU took to Twitter and said, that this was a milestone not only in the history of their union but also of central universities across India.
Instructions for interview
Further, the university has also detailed instructions for the candidates selected for the interview round:
A) Candidates are expected to carry one original copy and two photocopies of the following documents:
1) Class X certificate
2) Class XII certificate
3) Bachelor's degree certificate
4) Bachelor degree marks memo
5) PG degree certificate
6) PG degree marks memo
7) UGC/CSIR/DBT/ICMR NET-JRF validity certificate (applicable to candidates selected under the JRF category)
8) Recent passport-size photo
9) Transfer Certificate and Migration Certificate from the institution last studied
10) Category Certificate – SC/ST/OBC-NCL/EWS/PWD certificates as applicable for candidates applying under reserved categories
B) OBC category candidates must submit the OBC-NCL certificate in the Government of India format issued on or after April 1, 2020
C) EWS candidates must submit the EWS certificate issued to them on or after April 1, 2023