I have written two letters to Sri. K.T.Rama Rao who is a minister of importance for the Telangana State. Today again I have written one letter since I saw a news item in the New Indian Express which has interviews with certain people who have given falsified information regarding PhD admissions in the Osmania University. I have written a letter again today to counter the untruths that were given as truths to the press. I am putting up that letter here. I do not know if the mails that I am writing are being read by him or not but I am doing what I can. Here is the letter.
Honourable Minister Sir,
I am sorry that I am persisting with writing letters to you. What prompted me to write this letter to you (with the hope that you are reading my letters even if you are not replying to them) is the article that appeared in today's New Indian Express on the front page with a picture of the Arts College and some individuals who are part of an elected body of the university, complaining that Osmania University does not have enough faculty to guide students and therefore recruitment should be taken up. I would like you to know that three years ago the University gave admissions into the PhD programmes of various departments that exist in the University, to 1800 students in one go. What made this possible is that the cut off mark for considering a candidate as qualified was 15 out of 100. So people with 15 marks in an objective entrance which had questions like "Socrates was killed by A. hanging him to a ceiling fan B. a speeding car C. giving electric shock and D. making him drink poison. Everyone knows that Socrates belonged to ancient Greece and hence could not be hanged to a ceiling fan or die because of being hit by a car or through electric shock since electricity as we know it did not exist then. So the obvious answer to that is D. by making him drink poison. Despite such questions being asked (the exam pattern is multiple choice questions numbering 100) people could get only 15% and were given admission into the PhD programme. We are all saddled with lots of PhD students none of whom can write a thesis in any language.
This situation is further exploited by some teachers who have started taking money and writing theses by using the method that I had explained in my previous missive. Previously there were MPhil courses with a restriction of 12 students every year and with selections taking place after the students had written long essays and passed the written test and then appearing and passing in an interview where they had to explain the subject or research and why it merited research. On completion of MPhil the PhD aspirants then had to attend an interview for admission into the PhD programme. Now there is a one hour multiple choice test and people who get 15% in the examination are taken as research students. Three years ago 1800 students were admitted into the PhD programmes of various departments due to 15% being the cut off mark for selection. The mega number of 1800 students being taken into the PhD programme directly has meant that all the supervisors have the stipulated number of research scholars working under them and so admissions into PhD programmes have become irregular. I understand that as politicians there are compulsions which call for a compromise on some of the values but in Osmania and other universities there are no values left and hence compromise can be made for anything or everything. Caste divides, religious divides have become the norm with all people in the University from the highest position holders through teachers, students to the non-teaching staff. These divides are today firmly entrenched in different identities and very often they clash. I do not know what the plans of the government are with regard to education (from primary to higher education) but if a sincere attempt is not made at least at to start setting some things right then this whole thing will collapse under its own dead weight. I once again request you to take my letters seriously, I am not insane. I have the best interests of the new Telangana State in my heart and I believe that real empowerment of people takes place when they get good quality education and I am sad to say as an insider of the system that institutional rules and regulations have been completely destroyed and any more of this takes place the university will exist in name only.
Yours Sincerely
A V Satish Chandra
Professor of Political Science (*Nizam College)
Osmania University
Hyderabad - 500007
Telangana State
Mobile:+919949006185
*Off campus constituent college of the Osmania University.
I hope that people do not think that I am mad or a saboteur of the system. I stayed in this city and country because of my love for them. I take people's money as salary and my conscience tells me that the least I can do is let the powers that be know some ground realities. I will try what I can and leave the rest to God.
Sir, I want to be very frank about What I feel about the government policy. The moment KCR and the TRS used the Osmania University, its staff and students for furthering their political ambitions, it is understood that they are least bothered about the academic interest of the Osmania University. Now in appointing VCs and other academic posts in the Telangana state, the government would be more interested in repaying to those people, who supported and actively participated in the separate Telangana agitation. It would only be a miracle, if KTR responds to your letters and does anything in favour of academic good.
ReplyDeleteBut I still believe in miracles. So All The Best.
I agree. The historical rationale for encouraging politics in universities, with affiliation to major political parties is unclear. Unthinking journalists also regularly use phrases such as "cauldron for politics" etc. Really? It would be naive to believe that universities are the only or the topmost places for brewing political thought. Social media is proving to be a very handy tool to mobilize thought and opinion in a real-time and rapid-response way. Social media is not the only way, but is definitely one more way to organize disparate, remotely located population around an issue. It is far more effective than a university, and it has greater reach across population. I think it is high time to put an end to campus politics and affiliation to political parties. Legislation precedes laws, and therefore there should be laws including, but not limited to the following: (1) No politics on campus (2) Political parties should not be allowed to use campus for any event.
ReplyDeleteTelangana is standing up to what it has long been perceived to be. A place where people like to "fix" things in every sphere, a place where work ethics are lax, low and "sab kuch chalta hai." Students want grace marks to reach the 35% limit, job seekers must find whom to bribe in government controlled positions, home builders have to get away with altered plans, illegal water connections...and the list goes on. Grace marks are given regularly, irregularities in home construction, encroachment etc. are pardoned with a token fine and again this list goes on. This is also a reflection of India in general. The argument which many will be loathe to put forward that "we're doing what the others are doing..." is also a reflection of the general deterioration.
ReplyDeleteRahul Gandhu's recent discourses in the media are interesting if not laughable. It reminds people of the saying that people in glass houses shouldn't throw stones. However he seems to be the best known youth spokesperson, especially for all the wrong causes!
Every country must be aware of its history and culture, especially when it is India with a rich culture. Given the rich philosophy from Hindu history and its guiding wisdom including the puranas, vedas and upanishads to name a few, why is it that universities must continue to always teach western thought all the time? Yes the west has produced great thinkers a few hundred years ago, and it is important to read and learn about these thinkers. However, Indian universities teaching Political Science should include teachings from Indian Philosophy. The concepts of Dharma and Karma are alien to the rest of the world. Dharma is the founding stone for laws, and the Indian epics are full of rich examples about all spheres of activities. How many students in India especially in JNU are aware of even a fraction of this knowledge? Osmania is a gone case anyway. I wonder what those PhD students who got in with 15% score will produce, and how would they compete with the rest of the world? Perhaps KCR's successors will demand for an international quota also. By the looks of it, India will only be saved by dalits and muslims and the larger population would do well to not oppose or debate or question anything coming out of these communities. They will no doubt save India and surely have its best interests in mind.