ABVP asks JNU VC to exempt this year's PhD scholars from repeating coursework for this reason

The Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad's (ABVP) Jawaharlal Nehru University unit wrote to the Vice-Chancellor Dr Mamidala Jagadesh Kumar on February 3 asking for an exemption from repeating the PhD coursework for those scholars who have completed their MPhil and have been admitted to the PhD programme in 2021.

The students said that they have been through a lot during the pandemic and requested that the respective centres or schools exempt them from repeating the coursework. They cited two regulations, one from the UGC and the other from JNU that has a provision that exempts students who have completed their MPhil from the PhD course work. But there's a catch — the respective centres or schools have to allow it. The Regulation No. 7.6 of the University Grants Commission (Minimum Standards and Procedure for Award of MPhil/PhD Degrees) states that "candidates who are already holding MPhil degree and admitted to the PhD programme may be exempted by the department from the PhD course work". The JNU regulations repeat the same and add a little to it, "Candidates already holding an MPhil degree and admitted to the PhD programme may be exempted by the Centre or School/Special Centre." This is what Regulation No 7.9 under the Jawaharlal Nehru University Circular Eval.I/2017 dated December 22, 2017, says.

The students said that the PhD scholars have been through a lot and they deserve this exemption. "The MPhil batch of 2019-21 academic years have been through difficult circumstances brought about by the de-linking of MPhil-PhD programmes, re-appearing in the JNU entrance exams and viva-voce for PhD admission — all while coping with the COVID-19 pandemic. Therefore, they must be exempted from course work," said Shivam Chaurasia, President of the ABVP's JNU unit.

The ABVP activists said that they would be speaking to the respective deans about this issue. "On the basis of critical circumstances under which the students have strived hard to complete their course work and submission of MPhil dissertation we are taking to the respective school deans and chairpersons to resolve the issue," said Rohit Kumar, Secretary, ABVP-JNU.