JNU not implementing quota policy, allege students, teachers
They have effectively eliminated quota. Those who have made it have done so by virtue of their own hard work. The main reason is that JNU has implemented a blanket 50% qualifying marks in the written entrance, with no relaxations for students from reserved categories BAVISKAR SHARAD PRAHLAD, asst prof
NEW DELHI : A section of students and teachers belonging to reserved categories have alleged Jawaharlal Nehru University had not fully implemented the reservation policy in student admissions in the previous academic session. They said this pattern was continuing this year as well.
The students belonging to the Birsa Ambedkar Phule Students Association (BAPSA) and teachers said even though 15% of the seats are reserved for scheduled caste students, only 1.3% of Mphil/phd students admitted in the 2017-18 academic session belonged to this category.
Similarly, “for scheduled tribes, it was 0.6% rather than the mandated 15%, for other backward classes it was 8.2% rather than the mandated 27%, and for persons with disability it was 0.3% rather than the mandated 3%,” they said in a statement.
Hindustan Times has not been able to individually verify the data.
“They have effectively eliminated the reservation system here. Those who have made it have done so by virtue of their own hard work. The main reason is that the university has implemented a blanket 50% qualifying marks in the written entrance exam, with no relaxations for students from reserved categories,” said Baviskar Sharad Prahlad, an assistant professor at the centre for French and francophone studies.
JNU implemented the UGC Gazette notification of 2016, which states students need to qualify a written exam with at least 50% marks to be considered for the second leg of selection process, which is a viva voce, weighted at 100%.
The teachers and students alleged that the situation would be similar for the 2018-19 session as well, as the university continues to hold the same 50% requirement for all.
“This is violation of constitutional provisions. They are continuing to say everybody needs to get 50% in the written exam. If they could at least relax it to 45% for OBC, and 40% for SC and ST, we will have more students qualifying for the viva stage,” Mahendra Pratap Rana, an associate professor at the centre for West Asian studies, said.
JNU officials did not respond to calls or texts.
“When we had asked the administration earlier about why they were not filling the reserved seats, they said there were no takers. This is a blatant lie. They were eliminated in the written test round itself,” said Ajith Kanna, a professor at the centre for French and francophone studies.