Alleging that the University of Hyderabad had violated the reservation policy of Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes students during the current admission process, which are underway, students from Ambedkar Students' Association (ASA) protested on Tuesday. The students claimed that the admission procedure “raises serious doubts and concerns” about the students belonging to SC, ST, OBC, PWD (people with disability) and Economic Weaker Sections.
Calling it a gross violation, the students claimed that 23 reserved category seats are still vacant. ASA alleged that the university failed in calling students for interviews and did not announce the waiting list. “Nearly 22 departments didn't release any waiting list, this is a clear cut violation of the University Grants Commission (UGC),” said Samson Gidla, president of ASA. “We demand that the university should release the waiting list without any further delay,” he added.
ASA also gave a representation of the same to the Deputy Registrar and said, “Without releasing the waiting list it is impossible to fill all the seats and this will only lead to a situation where the reserved seats would remain vacant.” The last day of scrutiny of students is August 10.
"The ratio to be maintained for SC candidates who are called for interview is 1:6. This ratio has been violated in many departments despite having enough students,” ASA alleged and said, “we demand a clarification in this regard.”
One of the protesting students said, “In the communication department, there are 12 seats reserved for the OBCs but only 11 persons were called for the interview.”
However, Devesh Nigam, registrar of UoH said, “It is true that most seats haven’t been filled yet, but it is not something new. Almost never 100% of the seats were filled, and it is due to various factors – at times not many people apply for them.”
“We are still hopeful that the seats would be filled. The third waiting list is yet to be announced,” he added.
Admission process in UoH began on April 1. The entrance exams for the MA, IMA, MSc, programmes began in May.