The Jawaharlal Nehru Technological University - Anantapur (JNTUA), has been in an overdrive to make quality an intrinsic nature of its curriculum and research, which has started to show up positive results.
Speaking to The Hindu , the JNTUA Vice-Chancellor Prof. K. Lal Kishore said that the university, over the last two years had taken many measures to improve the quality of education within the various departments of the university and in its constituent colleges also.
“One of our primary concerns and the area that is actually showing up positive results is that of research and award of doctorates, in which implementation of anti-plagiarism measures have led to some original research,” said Mr Lal Kishore. The result of the anti-plagiarism measures has been that the total number of doctorates awarded has actually come down from 68 in 2011 to 56 in 2012, 52 in 2013 and 43 in 2014.
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However, the silver lining of these efforts has been the fact that the university, besides having been able to come up with some original research in civil engineering has also had very few doctorates which received bad feedback after having been uploaded to ‘Sodhganga,’ the portal to check for the originality of research thesis in the country run by the University Grants Commission (UGC).
Mr Lal Kishore attributed the decline in award of doctorates to unworthy researchers and research projects not coming forward as award of doctorates was made more credible and stringent.
Explaining further, be said that the university was contemplating to make it mandatory for all three external evaluators — one from IIT, one from NIT and another from the university — to recommend it.
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“While the candidate is considered for award of doctorate if two of the three external evaluators recommend we propose to go for a fourth examiner if one of the three doesn’t recommend,” said Mr Kishore.