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Journalism of Courage
Last year, an Indian Express investigation revealed that over 1500 honorary doctorates had been conferred to various people in around two decades.
Bhushan Patwardhan, vice-chairman of the University Grants Commission (UGC), says the matter of Shahrukh khan’s honorary doctorate should be looked from the broader perspective, including its propriety and timing. He told Senior Editor Shyamlal Yadav that the UGC will examine if conferment of honorary degree by universities is required to be regulated to prevent their potential misuse.
READ | UGC revamps system to weed out dodgy research paper shops
Excerpts from the interview:
Q: Last year The Indian Express did an investigation that several people who are controlling bodies related to higher education, getting honorary doctorates from various universities. It seems a clear case of conflict of interest and also ethically not correct. Don’t you think they should not accept such degrees while on post?
A: I personally feel that conferment of honorary degrees such as D.Litt., D.Sc. etc should be based on individual accomplishments. Conferment of such degrees merely to please persons in positions of power may bring disrepute to both the parties.
Q: What steps has the UGC, as apex body for higher education, taken in the matter of such honorary doctorate? One way is that authorities should deny such degrees. APJ Abdul Kalam denied when he was President of India, Narendra Modi also denied such degree as PM. But for UGC, this is not sufficient, don’t you think the UGC/NAAC like bodies should have some rules in place?
A: The UGC has regulations on Promotion of Academic Integrity and Prevention of Plagiarism 2017. UGC had issued code of professional ethics for University and college teachers in 1989 that was reiterated as part of Regulations on Measures for the Maintenance of Standards in Higher Education, 2018. In addition, UGC has a Policy on Conflict of Interest and Ethics and Code of Conduct for the Commission Members. However, none of these specifically address the issue of ‘honorary doctorate’ degrees. We will try to incorporate these aspects in the revised code of conduct for academic.
Q: In the matter of the doctorate conferred on Shahrukh Khan by Jamia Milia, the issue seems to be that one person cannot be awarded such doctorates from multiple universities. What do you think on it? Do you think this should be a rule for all universities that no person can get honorary doctorates from multiple universities? Shouldn’t UGC go ahead to frame some rules/guidelines for universities in this regard?
A: There are many instances where one person may have received honorary degrees from multiple institutions. Conferment of honorary doctorate degree should be used to mark genuine recognition of highly accomplished individuals with impeccable credentials. Honorary doctorates should not be used as a trading tool for any economic / political motives or to please those who are rich and powerful. The onus of such decision is normally on the Vice Chancellor.
This issue may not be best addressed by framing rules because in my view it is more about morality, ethics, value systems and professional code of conduct. According to the UGC Regulation 2018 Code of Professional Ethics, the Vice Chancellor is expected to conduct himself/herself with transparency, fairness, honesty, highest degree of ethics and decision making that is in the best interest of the university; and refrain from allowing considerations of caste, creed, religion, race, gender or sex in their professional endeavor. I think the issue of honorary doctorate to Shahrukh Khan by Jamia Milia should be looked from broader perspective including its propriety and timing. In any case, we will examine if conferment of honorary degree by Universities is required to be regulated to prevent their potential misuse.
Q: This has also become a convention in agriculture sector where ministers, secretaries and authorities in apex agriculture bodies take such doctorates. What should be done there? Has UGC any suggestion for them?
A: I feel this subject is more of self-regulation. Typically, agriculture sector is not under UGC, however, I hope the concerned authorities will take appropriate steps to enhance academic integrity.
Q: Predatory journals have given very bad name to the country. How the CARE is going to improve quality of research in India?
A: The problem of dubious /sub-standard journals has become a serious concern all over the world. The percentage of research articles published in poor quality journals is reported to be high in India, which has adversely affected its image. UGC has taken several remedial measures to curb publishing in dubious journals and steps to create awareness regarding publication ethics. UGC has established a Consortium for Academic and Research Ethics (CARE) for creation and maintenance of “Reference List of Quality Journals”. CARE members include Statutory Councils/ Academies/ Government bodies in various disciplines. Research Journals in disciplines under Science, Engineering, Technology, Agriculture and Biomedical Sciences that are indexed in SCOPUS and Web of Science (WOS) will be part of CARE List. For disciplines such as the Social Sciences, Humanities, Languages, Arts, Culture and Indian knowledge systems, recommendations will be received from CARE members representing respective disciplines.
Q. How new journals can be added in CARE?
A: UGC has identified four regional Universities as CARE Universities — Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi, Maharaja Sayajirao University of Baroda, Vadodara, University of Hyderabad, Hyderabad and Tezpur University, Assam. Publishers can submit journal information in prescribed format through any of these Universities. Every new journal entry will be analysed with help of a validated protocol at the UGC Cell established at Savitribai Phule Pune University. Journals which meet the qualifying criteria will be included in the CARE list. This will help academic and research community to identify quality journals from various disciplines.
Q: Problem is not only with the UGC or HRD Ministry, and NISCAIR under DST (Department of Science and Technology) gives ISBN/ ISSN and there is no check after that. What needs to be done from their side? Has UGC talked to them as well?
A: Yes, there is a need to critically look at the procedure to issue ISSN/ISBN numbers. CSIR-NISCAIR issues these numbers in India is member of CARE. They have already taken steps in this direction. In any case, ISSN/ISBN numbers do not represent the quality of journal.
Q: Some private organisations run Citation Indexes and create confusion among the researchers. What steps taken in that direction?
A: Yes, we have noticed that some dubious agencies have come up with made-up Journal Citation Index and dubious Journal Impact Factors. UGC recognises only SCOPUS and Web of Science as a standard database, which is globally accepted.
Q: Are there any efforts of co-ordination to streamline such system with other higher education bodies like in the field of Medical and Agriculture etc?
A: CARE brings authoritative bodies from different disciplines on one platform where deliberations regarding academic and research ethics will happen on a continuous basis. This will help in increasing awareness to prevent predatory publishing. CARE includes councils from medical (ICMR) and agriculture (ICAR) disciplines also. Sharing experiences of these councils will be possible during CARE meetings, which can help in the streamlining process for journal quality.
Q: The booming business of predatory journals was necessitated by publications for PhD/MPhil students. UGC has formed a committee to review that. When is the report expected? Which session we can expect new norms would be applicable?
A: UGC has appointed a committee under the chairmanship of Prof P. Balaram to review and revise M.Phil/PhD regulations and also to suggest various means to improve quality of research in India. The report of this committee is expected by March 15, 2019.
It is possible to implement new norms from next academic year. Can a bright undergraduate directly registered for PhD? Should there be a qualifying test? Who should select research topic? How to inculcate art of enquiry and critical questioning? What is the role of the research guide? Should course work be compulsory? How to evaluate quality of work done by student? Should certain number of publications be mandatory before submitting thesis? Should external referee be compulsory? We hope that Balaram Committee will address many such questions and suggest suitable measures to improve quality of doctoral research in India.
