Jaipur: The Governor’s office has formed a 10-member high-level committee to examine persistent delays in the PhD evaluation process across state universities, following concerns raised by research scholars over delays after thesis submission.An order issued by the Governor’s office said the committee aims to bring uniformity to PhD regulations and evaluation procedures and ensure the process is transparent, time-bound and of high quality. The committee has been asked to submit a report on irregularities in PhD evaluation and admissions within a month.The move comes amid protests by PhD candidates at Rajasthan University (RU) over unfilled seats.The order, issued on Aug 24, said the University Grants Commission (UGC) and other relevant bodies had amended the PhD process to ensure research scholars possess a high level of academic and intellectual competence. However, delays in appointing evaluators, receiving evaluation reports and conducting viva-voce examinations were causing difficulties for scholars and delaying the award of PhD degrees.The committee will be headed by Prof NK Pandey, vice-chancellor of Haridev Joshi University of Journalism and Mass Communication.The committee has been asked to study PhD regulations followed by universities in other states and prestigious academic institutions across the country and suggest measures to improve the process.“We will convene a meeting of the committee this week with all members present. I have sought suggestions from the vice-chancellors who are part of the committee. Our focus will be to ensure that PhD admissions in the state are conducted uniformly and in accordance with rules and regulations,” Prof Pandey said.“Students often complain that after submitting their thesis, the evaluation report, examination, or coursework is not completed in a time-bound manner. If these processes are completed on time, the results can also be declared without delay. Quality research depends on the hard work of the candidate and supervisor, which is becoming a matter of concern,” he added.
