HRD ministry
sets new rules for award of MPhil, PhD degrees
The HRD
ministry relaxed several rules for women candidates including allowing a 240
days break to avail maternity benefits within study period
For a female research candidate the course duration has been relaxed by
two years for PhD and one year for M.phil courses. The human
resource development ministry has set new rules for award of research degrees
such as MPhil and PhD at Indian universities.
The HRD
ministry has also relaxed several rules for women candidates, including
allowing a 240-day maternity break from their studies.
The new
rules are aimed at putting in place a “proper system” for doctoral studies and
streamline their administration, duration and quality, said higher education
secretary V.S. Oberoi. The rules are also intended to allow women greater
flexibility in pursuing research.
In
2013-14, some 107,890 students were pursuing PhD in India. That was less than
0.4% of the total student enrolment in the country. Of the students pursuing a
PhD, only around 3,335 were women.
Following
are some of the key changes:
(1) MPhil
duration: Minimum two consecutive semesters or one year, and a maximum of four
consecutive semesters or two years.
(2) PhD
duration: Minimum of three years, including course work, and a maximum of six
years. Extension beyond the limit to be governed by statute or ordinance of the
individual institution.
(3) Number
of PhD scholars per supervisor now has been fixed at 8/6/4 for
professor/associate professor/assistant professor, respectively. It was eight
per supervisor earlier.
(4) Number
of MPhil scholars per supervisor now at 3/2/1 for professor/associate
professor/assistant professor, respectively. It was five per supervisor
earlier.
(5) Only a
full-time regular teacher of the concerned university/college can act as a
supervisor. It means an external, visiting, adjunct or part-time teacher in a
university cannot be the core supervisor of a research scholar. However, a
co-supervisor can be allowed in inter-disciplinary areas.
(6)
Special provisions have been provided for women scholars. For a female research
candidate, the course duration has been relaxed by two years for PhD and one
year for MPhil courses. It also applies to physically handicapped candidates
with 40% disability.
(7) The
new rules allow the women candidates maternity leave, or child-care leave, once
during the entire duration of their MPhil/PhD programmes for up to 240 days.
(8) Women
candidates can now also transfer research data due to relocations to new
institutions. It means that if a woman candidate shifts her place of work or
residence because of any personal or professional reasons, she can shift her
research work from one university to another close to her where she is moving.
The rules will encourage more women to
enrol in doctoral programs by allowing them to get married and build a family
while pursuing their studies, said S. Parasuraman, director of the Tata
Institute of Social Sciences.
He said
the HRD ministry’s new rules are also “progressive and will help address
procedural issues related to administering the programmes”.
Source | Mint – The
Wallstreet Journal | 26 May
2016
