Srinagar: Candidates left out of the selection list of PhD programmes in Zoology and Biotechnology at Baba Ghulam Shah Badshah University (BGSBU) Rajouri have alleged “nepotism and discrepancies” in the selection process, though authorities refute these allegations as baseless.
In the selection lists of the two programmes notified recently, officials at the respective departments have withheld the weightage of the marks obtained by the candidates in the entrance test and the interview, “in violation of norms”, the candidates allege, thus making the whole selection process questionable and “dubious”.
A group of aggrieved candidates told Kashmir Reader on the condition of anonymity that the selection process was all the more suspicious as the topper in the selection list of the PhD programme in Biotechnology happens to be the brother of the HOD at the Zoology Department, who has been included in the Departmental Research Committee (DRC) for the Biotechnology programme.
“The HOD has violated kinship norms set by the UGC as he has himself selected his brother,” an aggrieved candidate said.
Besides the topper, other candidates “closely associated with the HOD Zoology” too have been placed in the PhD selection list of the Biotechnology programme, “to rub salt on injury”, as per the candidates.
The HOD Zoology, the candidates alleged, also figures in the DRC at his own department, which as per them “is surprising, as he can be the DRC member in only one committee, again violating set norms and regulations”.
As per the candidates, the said HOD has as many as 17 research scholars working under him which as per them is another violation of norms as “an associate professor can have a maximum of 6 scholars as per UGC norms”.
The aggrieved candidates alleged that “blue-eyed candidates” had been placed in the two selection lists while many deserving candidates having published their work in reputed research journals had been dropped in the PhD selection list of Biotechnology programme.
The Dean, School of Biosciences and Biotechnology at BGSBU, Prof Iqbal Parvez refuted the allegations saying that the break-up of marks had been deliberately withheld “in order to prevent it from any undue influence”.
Prof Iqbal said that it was unlikely that the DRC members could influence the outcome of the results, and added that members had no say in the entrance test awards, which formed the predominant portion of the weightage.
Head of Department (HOD), Zoology, Prof Asgar Ali Shah was not available for comments as his phone number was out of order.

Irshad Khan