The Ambedkar Students Association in a letter address to the University of Hyderabad administration has claimed that 27 PhD seats reserved for the SC, ST, OBC, PWD, EWS categories are vacant. The association also complained that many departments in the University are not releasing the waitlist and this was causing unnecessary stress to candidates who are eagerly waiting to see if they stand a chance.
In their letter, the ASA stated that there were some serious violations regarding the PhD and MPhil admissions. "It includes the violation of Reservation of Admission Act 2006, violation of guidelines issued by UGC with respect to filling seats, the announcement of waiting lists and implementation of reservation policy, alongside non-implementation of decisions made by SC, ST admission advisory committee 2014-15, with regard to the reservation of seats for Scheduled Castes and Tribes."
The ASA President, Samson Gidla said that after their representation, the administration had taken note of the MPhil seat issues but still haven't said anything about the PhD seats. "We looked at the University prospectus and the results of the PhD and MPhil exams this year and found that despite being called for an interview, many students from marginalised communities did not get a seat," he said.
"Given the condition that it is mandatory to fill all the seats notified during the call for admission, it is highly alarming that about 27 reserved category seats are kept vacant, which are to be filled mandatorily as the same is constitutionally obligatory and binding on the part of the institution. These seats are kept vacant despite the availability of candidates," the ASA said it their letter.
The ASA also released data of the number of students who had been selected this year, "From the data, it is evident that the reservation policy was not followed properly by the university. These discrepancies in the admission process put the research aspirations of students at stake," the student body wrote in its letter.
"All the students who are called for interview are usually given admission and the quota has always been filled. This is the first year that the seats are lying vacant. It is the administration's responsibility to ensure these seats are filled," Gidla said. He said there are some departments were not a single SC student had applied and that was fine but there had been departments were SC, ST, OBC, PWD, EWS students had applied and yet their name did not figure in the list.
"We are being told that it was the decision of the School Advisory Board but that is not mentioned in the UGC rules, if a student passes the exam, they come for the interview and they get their seat," he added.
Gidla also said that the University was violating rules by not releasing the waiting list, "Guidelines on Students Entitlements categorically states to declare the final scores of each candidate and declare entire waiting list public. To quote: The Final scores of each candidate who appeared for entrance examination including all the components and the entire waiting list must be made public."
We have reached out to the University for a comment and will update the copy with their comments.
"If some student decides to go to JNU or some other University someone on the waiting list can get a seat. For that they have to put out the list, so the students would know," Gidla told Edex.
