Some people toss coins when there's a tie. At JNU, they'll just ask for your age and hand the win to the younger one. No, seriously. This year's PhD admission process at JNU has been controversial every step of the way, from slashing its seats by 80 percent to filling only 74 seats of the 139 seats (out of the 74, only three were SC/ST students). Now, the JNU administration is being criticised for being ageist as well.
According to some members of the faculty, the latest move by the JNU administration is to give preference to the younger candidate in case there is a situation where two students have secured the same marks. In all the previous years, if two students had secured the same marks, then both the students would be given admission in the college, now the younger of the two will be given the seat. "Even if five students got the same marks, they would all be given seats. Now they are choosing to give it to the younger person.This move defies logic, how can you determine a person's academic capabilities based on how old they are. It is taking away the basic rights of people," said Ayesha Kidwai, faculty and President of the JNU Teachers' Association.
Earlier this year, following the UGC norms implementation, the University had cut 83 percent of the seats. The MPhil/ PhD seats were reduced from 1406 to 194. Out of the 194 seats, of which 139 are PhD seats, only 74 have been filled. When questioned about this, the University administration claimed that the second list would have more student names. However, academics argue that a second list is only out when there are not enough students to fill the seats.
Unlike the other universities, JNU's MPhil and PhD student population is 62 percent of the total student strength, while in other colleges only 3-4 percent of the population comprises of PhD students. JNU VC, Mamidala Jagadesh Kumar, has repeatedly been claiming over the months that the seat cuts are only happening because there aren't enough teachers to be able to guide the number of students who are seeking admission. The UGC guidelines state that a single professor can only guide three MPhil students and 8 PhD students.
Even JNUTU president, Ayesha Kidwai took to social media to ridicule the idea.
