Students protest Rohtak university PhD eligibility rules for NET-qualified candidates

Students led by INSO national president Pradeep Deswal staged a protest on the Maharshi Dayanand University (MDU) campus on Wednesday, accusing the university administration of declaring a significant number of NET-qualified candidates “ineligible” for PhD admissions.

The protesting students submitted a memorandum to Prof Suresh Chander Malik, Dean of Academic Affairs, MDU, demanding that all NET-qualified candidates be considered eligible. Prof Malik assured them their concerns would be examined sympathetically.

“The MDU administration recently issued an order stating that students holding NET certificates dated before December 2024 will not be considered eligible for PhD admissions for the 2025-26 academic session. Moreover, admissions of those who have already secured PhD seats in various university departments on the basis of NET certificates issued before December 2024 will also be cancelled,” Deswal said.

He added several affected candidates had challenged the MDU order before the Punjab and Haryana High Court and expressed hope the decision would be in favour of the students.

Meanwhile, Prof Malik said the order was issued in accordance with new guidelines and regulations for PhD programmes framed by the University Grants Commission (UGC), which have been implemented across all universities in the country from the 2024-25 academic session.