Only four students cleared the Hindi MPhil entrance exam for Jawaharlal Nehru University in 2018.
Of the 800 candidates who appeared for the 12 available seats in the department, only four managed to cross the 50% qualifying mark which, as per UGC regulations, which is now mandatory for MPhil admissions.
This led many to blame the regulations and claim that removal of the previous JNU regulations — which gave deprivation points and other benefits to SC/ST, OBC and PWD candidates —was the reason for the abysmal result.
“There is no confirmation that even the four candidates who have qualified will finally be admitted for they have to sit and clear an interview which has 100% marks,” said a professor of the Hindi department.
“This is the reason why students were protesting throughout last year. If only the earlier regulations were followed we would not have seen this situation,” the professor added.
Chairman of the Hindi department Gobind Prasad said, “Those from the OBC category only had to get 20% from the written exam to qualify, while SC/ ST and PWD candidates needed only 18%. Also, earlier the students had to write a 70 marks paper and 30 marks would come from the interview. The system was changed in the UGC regulations, which prescribed 100 marks for the interview as well.”