Scuffle outside UGC office during JNU protest against PhD seat cuts

A scuffle broke out between Jawaharlal Nehru University students and police during a protest by the students outside the University Grants Commission (UGC) office, against recently adopted guidelines which impact the number of seats in research courses.

Students led by JNU students’ union gathered outside the UGC office around noon and tried to remove the barricades placed there and enter the premises. Some students managed to jump the barricades and enter inside too.

On Tuesday, the protest took place when the commission was holding a meeting — the last for the present UGC chairperson, Ved Prakash, who is set to retire soon.

Students and teachers have been protesting against recently adopted 2016 UGC notification that changes the admission policy for research courses. Students and teachers claim it has led to over 86% seat cut in M.Phil and Ph.D courses.

A delegation of students, including MA students, who said they will be most impacted by the new guidelines, along with teachers later met the UGC officials. The student and teacher delegation submitted a memorandum requesting rollback of the guidelines.

“Not only is there a huge seat cut due to the UGC guidelines, but JNU’s progressive admission policy is also being changed. Deprivation points given to students from backward districts have also been done away with. We want UGC to rollback these guidelines,” said Mohit Pandey, JNUSU president.

Former JNU teachers’ association (JNUTA) Ajay Patnaik said, “We met UGC officials and explained our concern.”

Indira Gandhi Delhi Technical University for Women (IGDTUW) will start its admission process from April 15

IGDTUW, Delhi’s first and only all women technological university, offers BTech, MTech, MCA (Masters of Computer Application) and PhD courses.

The online admission forms for MTech, MCA and PhD courses will be available from April 15.

The admission to MTech course will be based on the GATE score or the marks scored in the qualifying exam but preference would be given to GATE qualified applicants.

“Online submission of forms for MTech, MCA and PhD programs would commence from April 15. For admission process, eligibility criteria, updates, notifications and other details related to counselling and admission, visit the University website www.igdtuw.ac.in,” the university said in a statement.

A university official said for PhD programmes, admissions would be granted based on the GATE score/NET score and interview. “The university may conduct an entrance test for candidates who have not qualified GATE,” the official said.

“The last date for submitting the online applications is June 15 for MTech and PhD courses and June 10 for MCA,” the official said.

Admission to the B.Tech courses will be done by Joint Admission Counseling portal hosted by Delhi Technical University, Netaji Subhash Institute of Technology and Indraprastha Institute of Technology Delhi.

“Based on the IIT-JEE prelims score, a merit list will be prepared. Joint counseling will be done by JAC for giving admission to BTech courses in IGDTUW,” the official said. HTC