mark (in 30) in the VIVA. It means the mark goes for their physical
presence or attendance not for their intelligence or merit. Even the
demanded research proposal are being neglected with zero mark.!
Are these the same students who succeed the firm competition in the
When Caste is
written examination in which the questions are prepared by these same
being Evaluated
faculty members ? The answer for why this has happened is also the
answer for the query that who these students are. Out of this twenty,
This happened in the Centre
7 students are SC, 8 are OBC and 4 are ST. Now let us look at the
for Russian and Central Asian
proportion in the 17 students who were given only 2 marks in Viva.
Programme of the School of
Again 7 are Dalit, 7 are OBC and 3 ST. In sum, 36 out of 37 students
International Studies in JNU at
who were subjected under an attempt to eliminate through the Viva,
the time of M.phil admission for
by giving a mere one or two marks are coming from the sections
the academic year 2015-16. 92
historically oppressed and marginalized. They are tribal, Dalits and
students out of 101 who qualified
in written examination participated other backward classes. Do we have to go anywhere else to find the
example for institutionalized discrimination? The 7 students in the
in the VIVA (Interview). Those
9 who did not make to attend Viva also belongs to these deprived
who did not attend the VIVA
sections. It is difficult to believe that all of them did not attend the
will not be considered for the
Viva over the decisions taken only by them. They are people having
admission even in the case they
obstacles to reach for the Viva even after scoring high marks in written
have scored top marks in written.
exam. Here, we are looking at only what happens at Viva if they
The list of the students eligible
manage to make it.
for admission will be prepared
The authorities may say that they are assessing only the merit. Let
by calculating the marks scored
us come across to the average mark the students from different
in 70 which is of the Written
sections scored in the 70 marks of written examination. Those are
examination plus 30 of Viva.
There were 37 students from OBC SC 23.38, ST 25.25, OBC 27.13 and Unreserved 30.63. Now let us
look at the average marks in 30 of Viva. SC 3.38, ST 5.91, OBC 6.94
category, 21 students from SC
and Unreserved 13.18.! Only those belongs to the higher castes has
category and 12 students from
managed to get more marks than their average mark in the written
ST category in the 92 applicants
examination. The percentage of distribution of average marks in
attended the VIVA. There were
written and Viva for different categories are given in the table below.
only 22 students belongs to the
unreserved category, which is of
course the higher caste. 40.21%
of them are OBC, 22.82% SC,
13%ST and 23.9% Unreserved.
SC, ST and OBC students consists
76% of the total selected students
those who attended Viva-voce. In
a very disturbing development,
92.39% of the candidates
eliminated after the Viva is
belonging to these categories.
How do the students belonging
to some particular backgrounds,
who are selected for the Viva after 14 of the 21 Dalit students were given either 1 or 2 in the Viva. None
other than one student among them were given more than 10 marks in
qualifying in the written exam
the Viva. At the other side, 16 of the 22 students from the higher castes
which is conducted in more than
were “gifted” with above than 10 marks out of 30. Is there anything else
50 centres across the nation, are
needed to make it more clear that it is not the merit but the privileges of
being eliminated as a bunch after
birth and caste they have considered? For those who still hang-up with
the Viva which lasts maximum
the quarrel of ‘merit’, the student who topped in the course work one
10 to 15 minutes.? Do we have to
year after got admission is a student who was given ‘1’ mark in the Viva-
say it again to find out what this
voce!! They may defend with the argument that they have fulfilled the
interview is meant for?
quota when we come up with these facts which itself speaks loud about
20 students were given only 1
the discrimination. It is true the reservation seats were filled in this
RTI applications filled in
Jawaharlal Nehru University.
Theyyam 33