Seats vacant but admissions closed at University of Hyderabad

NEW DELHI: The University of Hyderabad (UoH), or Hyderabad Central University, has denied admissions for aspiring students even though vacant seats exist in many of the MA, MPhil and PhD courses, students alleged.

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic and the disruption it caused in the admission cycle, out-of-sync admission schedules are creating new problems. The UoH completed its admission process early while other central universities started them much later. In consequence, students have dropped out even after admission closed at the university.

“This year our university has closed Master’s admissions even before many universities and institutes declare their admission list and entrance results. As a consequence, the vacancy formed from students dropping out remains vacant and a huge number of aspirants stand outside as the university decided to close the admission procedure,” the UoH Students’ Union said in a statement.

University admission and COVID-19

Deshdeep Dhankhar is one of the affected students. With the UoH closing admission on MA in political science, Dhankar is now forced to opt for a different degree in Delhi University, one that he does not want to do.

“I applied for the University of Hyderabad entrance exam for the course of M.A. in Political Science this year. My rank is 36th in the unreserved list and the candidate with the 34th rank has got admission so far. When I enquired at the Controller of Examinations office, it was informed that the admission for this session is closed.” said Dhankhar.

“My only remaining option is to do a Master's in social work at Delhi University but I do not wish to take it up since I did my BA in political science,” he added.

The university started admission for MA courses on October 16 and closed admission in mid-November.

Dhankar said that he has written to the university officials requesting the reopening of admissions for waiting list students but is yet to receive a response.

Careers360 could not reach the senior officials at the university . However, an official from the office of the Controller of Examination said that the university will no longer be taking in students since the admission period is over. The official also said that no data was available on the number of vacancies.

Minimum marks

Students also alleged that the introduction of a minimum marks criteria in the MPhil, PhD admission schedule is “exclusionary” for many students especially those from the reserved categories.

“The minimum marks criteria will exclude a large number of aspirants from reserved categories from entering the university. It is a grave violation of the UGC (Minimum Standards and Procedure for Award of M.PHIL./PH.D Degrees) Regulations, 2018 which says the administration should fill reserved vacancies within one month of admission closure,” the Students’ Union said.

UoH had introduced a minimum qualifying criteria of 50% for unreserved and economically weaker sections (EWS) and a 45% criteria for Scheduled Caste, Scheduled Tribe and other backward communities (OBC).

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