MPhil, PhD holders exempted from NET

Giving more ammunition to anti-reservation protests, the University Grants Commission today said that it had decided in principle to exempt MPhil and PhD holders from writing the National Eligibility Test as a qualification for the post of lecturers.

The dilution of the criterion was defended by UGC chairman Sukhdeo Thorat saying that it had only been accepted in principle. He refused to explain what that meant. He said he was not aware when the new recruitment criterion would come into force.

Thorat refused to link the dilution of the criterion with the need to recruit more teachers in view of the current move for increased seats in colleges.

He said that only PhD holders were being exempt at the postgraduate level teaching, while MPhil and PhD holders were being exempt at the undergraduate teaching level. "Majority of candidates are without either PhD or MPhil," he said.