PhD entrance test at MU ATSUM, MUTSU allege discrepancies
Source: The Sangai Express
Imphal, March 03 2015 :
Pointing out most ST candidates for the PhD programme in Manipur University have been denied admission in the department of Chemistry, English and Life Sciences which is in direct contravention of the ST reservation norm of 31% of the university, the All Tribal Students' Union Manipur (ATSUM) and Manipur University Tribal Students' Union (MUTSU) have warned of taking up strenuous steps if the discrepancies are not given prompt and proper attention to by the appropriate University authority.
In a joint statement, ATSUM (T) and MUTSU said that the recently held and concluded PhD entrance examination at Manipur University was fraught with discrepancies and lacked transparency.
"While we are fully aware that cutoff level for ST/SC, OBC and General may be set to ensure quality of candidates, we feel that until and unless such decisions of the Pre-PhD Admission Committee with regard to this and other relevant information for candidates are not shared to the concerned either through departmental notifications or the University's PhD prospectus, such so-called criteria for admission or selection to the PhD programme are highly questionable in terms of transparency and accountability and as such open to manipulations at the wishes and whims of the members of the committee," it said.
The current practice of making known the cutoff level and other specific criteria by the departments of Chemistry, English and Life Sciences only after announcement of PhD entrance test results was and can be viewed as insidious attempts to effectively deny tribal students the chance and opportunity to pursue higher studies in the university, it said.
"We strongly question how most ST candidates fail to fulfil or get the desired mark to cross the cutoff level considered the most crucial in getting selected for Pre-PhD and also question why some departments have no cutoff level thereby affording tribal students an opportunity to pursue higher studies in those streams while some other departments, equally sought by tribal students, happen to have particularly high cutoff level and that too with no prior information on the existence of such," the joint statement said.
It further categorically questioned if there exist distinctions in education that surreptitiously segregate tribal and non-tribal students and whether some particular departments are considered the avenue for the more developed and apparently advanced community and that they are not for tribal students.
The two student bodies also demanded that ST seats be given to the highest scoring ST candidates whether or not they cross the cutoff marks.
ST quotas are for the STs alone and utmost efforts should be made that they continue to stay that way failing which strenuous steps will be taken up by the students' unions, warned the student bodies.
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