Sanskrit university scraps ‘PhD thesis in Sanskrit medium’ condition for teaching job

According to the minutes of the August 24 meeting, which was attended by 12 others including deans and heads of departments, “The committee, while taking into consideration the guidelines laid by the UGC with respect to eligibility for recruitment for teaching posts, recommended that the previous eligibility criteria (PhD thesis must be in Sanskrit language) will no longer be included among the mandatory requirements.”

It added, “It was decided that eligibility criteria will be fixed as per the UGC guidelines and concerned departments would carry out the required procedures.” Subsequently, it advertised positions for nine associate professors and 12 assistant professors on September 30, 2022.

When contacted, Prof Pathak said, “The requirement for a PhD thesis in Sanskrit medium was introduced during the term of the previous vice-chancellor. It was an arbitrary decision that made the pool of applicants very limited. Many deserving candidates could not even apply. There are no such mandatory requirements under the UGC guidelines. So, we removed the clause from the eligibility criteria and thus we have received many applications, which are being screened now.”

The latest advertisement is in contrast to the one issued on June 12, 2021, for direct recruitment of two professors, 12 associate professors and 22 assistant professors, in which it was clearly stated that the “Ph.D thesis should be in Sanskrit language”.

As per the June 12, 2021 advertisement, only those candidates were eligible for nine posts of associate professors (vyakaran, jyotish, advait vedanta, vishista advait, dharmashashtra, sahitya and puranetihas) who had a good academic record with a PhD carried out in Sanskrit medium.

The other requirements included a master’s degree, with at least 55 per cent marks, in “Sanskrit medium”, “ability to teach in Sanskrit” and a minimum of eight years of experience of teaching or research.

Also, a PhD thesis in Sanskrit language was a “desirable” condition for two other vacancies of associate professors (education).The eligibility criteria for the posts of assistant professors were also identical, with a clear emphasis on the ability to teach in Sanskrit medium along with the mandatory requirement of having a PhD thesis in Sanskrit language.

To be sure, when the requirement for a PhD thesis in Sanskrit medium was made mandatory, the institute was a deemed university. It was made a central university along with two other Sanskrit teaching institutes — Rashtriya Sanskrit Sansthan in Delhi, and Rashtriya Sanskrit Vidyapeeth in Tirupati.

On October 27, a section of PhD scholars of the institute wrote a letter to the V-C, raising the issue of scrapping the mandatory requirement. “This will be detrimental for students pursuing PhDs in Sanskrit medium in traditional subjects because in most Sanskrit institutions, it is mandatory.”

It is learnt that based on the letter of the PhD scholars, the issue was referred to the university administration. Days after students wrote to the V-C, the university administration issued a statement on December 6, in which it referred to the August 24 meeting as clarification.

The move has surprised many on the campus. Speaking on the condition of anonymity, a scholar said, “The move is anti-Sanskrit and defeats the purpose of the government to establish Central Universities for promotion of the language.”