UGC Regulations 2016 has undergone amendments. The updated regulation states that the candidates from Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes, and Other Backward Classes will be given a relaxation of 5% of marks (from 50% to 45% now).
According to the statement of the Human Resource Development Minister, Prakash Javadekar, the UGC move was done to increase the representation of reserved categories in the field of research. Statistics from All India Survey on Higher Education (AISHE) 2017-18 states that less than 0.5% of the total student enrollment comprises of students enrolled in PhD.
“The concerned universities will have to launch a special admission drive for reserved category within one month from the date of closure of admissions of General Category if they fail to fill the vacant seats”, states the UGC (minimum standards and procedure for Awards of MPhil/PhD Degree) Regulations 2018.
