Touts lure PhD aspirants in Osmania

Hyderabad: For the first time, touts are giving jitters to the Osmania University administration, by assuring gullible aspirants that they would facilitate in them getting a seat in PhD programme.

According to the university officials, just like offering consultant services for admission into some private universities across the country, some people have reportedly been luring candidates aspiring to take admission into PhD courses in various faculties in the university.

This is causing a major embarrassment to the university administration as the touts are charging different amounts basing on the popularity and importance of each course. For example, a PhD admission in sciences and technology will cost on the higher side than in the humanities, social sciences and management faculties. They charge anywhere between Rs 30,000 and Rs 50,000 for each seat.

For charging in different price bands, the touts while assuring them to facilitate admissions on payment, have been telling the prospective candidates that the amounts collected will have to be “distributed among the higher-ups heading the selection of candidates into the PhD programmes,” said a university senior official. Shocked and taken aback with the rumours doing rounds about the auction of PhD admissions OU Vice-Chancellor Prof S Ramachandram said that they advised the students not to fall prey to such assurances by the touts. Instead, he asked the students to alert the administration of the university, if anyone approached them with such offers.

They said that the university will strictly adhere to the PhD rules and regulations and it has also advised faculty to report if any such people were trying to influence and vitiate the admission process. “University has also warned the faculty of stringent action if the resort to any deviations from procedures. The university is firm on going ahead with the admission process and has put in place a surveillance mechanism to identify such individuals”, he said.