Rakhee Naiding, a tribal research scholar from the 2015 batch hailing from Assam and former president of the Bahujan Students’ Front (BSF) at Hyderabad Central University (HCU), was refused permission to submit her PhD thesis despite meeting all the qualifications set by the university administration.
“I’ve been appealing since January yet they refuse to allow me to re-register and submit my thesis. My supervisor has also sent my draft thesis with an appeal for re-registration with positive recommendations. My admission stands cancelled based on arbitrary rules created by HCU administration despite submitting a draft thesis twice now,” Rakhee alleged.
Rakhee is not the only student at HCU to have faced issues regarding her PhD.
A total of 107 PhD admissions have allegedly been cancelled in the aftermath of the pandemic and out of these, an alarming number of the students are from marginalised communities.
After the news of these cancellations came to light, the student group Bahujan Students’ Front (BSF) floated a survey on July 19 through Google Forms to gather data on the cancellations and the reasons behind them. As per the association, it was found that around 85 per cent of these scholars were from categories like SC, ST, OBC and religious minorities.
Joint united protest
Rakhee has been protesting alongside several student members of BSF-HCU since Thursday, July 27, demanding that these “forceful dropouts of Bahujan students” be stopped. The protest also attracted support from many other minority students’ associations.
Now, on Monday, July 31, a joint united protest was held at HCU by seven student associations. Led by the Bahujan Students’ Front (BSF) , the protest was also joined by the Tribal Students’ Forum (TSF), Muslim Students’ Federation (MSF), All India OBC Students’ Association (AIOBCSA), Fraternity Movement, National Students' Union of India (NSUI) and All India Students’ Association (AISA).
“This issue is pushing the students into a crisis. They are facing stress and depression. Around 65 per cent of these students are ready with their draft thesis but are not being given a chance. The university administration is adamant on their decision and does not have any compassion for the students and their future,” said Harish Chiluka, President of BSF-HCU.
Harish added that the university did not respond to the association when they sought an appointment to discuss the issue.
However, on the fifth day of the protests, today, Monday, July 31, Vice-Chancellor Prof BJ Rao and other officials allegedly addressed the student protesters.
“The VC has said that he will get back to us tomorrow (August 1). We have decided to sit in protest until he gives us written assurance that there will be positive intervention in the case of PhD cancellations. We want that the process be inclusive and participatory and everyone gets justice,” Rakhee said.
What are the demands?
The protestors have put forward a number of demands including immediate restoration of the cancelled PhD admissions, permission for PhD candidates to submit their thesis and detailed data on dropouts and their reasons.
The protestors demanded that the authorities resolve the arbitrary PhD cancellations of marginalised students.
“We want the HCU VC to listen to all our appeals in a humane manner and not just through a bureaucratic approach. He is an academic first and foremost, he should value the work that we have put in for eight or more years. The HCU administration cannot kill our voices here through arbitrary cancellations. We demand that these forceful dropouts of Bahujan students be stopped. We demand that cancellation orders be revoked and students be given a chance to submit their thesis,” Rakhee expressed further.
When EdexLive reached out to the office of the Dean of Students' Welfare, they shared that they are in a meeting trying to resolve the issue at the earliest.