OBC candidates at JNU not to receive any relaxation in entrance exams

The OBC candidates at Jawahar Lal Nehru University (JNU) will not be given any relaxation in the entrance examination for MPhil and Phd courses but they will be entitled to a concession of five marks in the eligibility criteria.

A decision in this regard was taken at a standing committee meeting of the university last week which was attended by Deans of various schools.

At present, the university treats both OBC and General candidates at par when it comes to eligibility criteria for admissions to various courses. They need to have secured a minimum of 55 per cent marks in the qualifying examination.

The SC/ST candidates, however, are given a relaxation as they only require to pass the qualifying examination with 34 per cent marks.

However, the university offered a 10 per cent relaxation to OBC candidates at the entrance examination or interview stage.

Therefore, while candidates in the General category were required to secure 40 marks, those belonging to OBC had to secure a minimum of 36 marks.

The OBC students have been demanding a concession at both the stages since long. Last year, a candidate had also approached the court challenging denial of admission by JNU as he had stood second in the entrance exam but did not meet the eligibility criteria.

"It will be unfair to give the concession at both the stages so it has been decided that the OBC candidates will be given a relaxation in eligibility but they will have to compete with the general category students in the entrance exam or the interview," a source said.

"If less number of OBC candidates meet the eligibility criteria then the seats that remain vacant under the category will be given to general category students," the source added.