National Eligibility Test (NET)

The National Eligibility Test (NET) is the national level entrance examination in India for Post-Graduate  Candidates who wish to qualify for admission in PhD research and/or University level teaching jobs in India

Who Conducts the National Eligibility Test (NET)

• For the Humanities and Art Discipline - UGC
• For the Science and Engineering Discipline -Jointly by Council of Scientific and Industrial Research(CSIR) and UGC

Support and Opposition for the National Eligibility Test (NET)

While a section of academicians advocated the abolition of the National Eligibility Test, the All India Federation of University and College Teachers’ Organisation (AIFUCTO) has strongly opposed attempts to abolish the National Eligibility Test (NET)

Controversy

National Eligibility Test (NET) of June 2012 was the most controversial examination because its result was published on September 18, 2012.

After the publication of the results, the Commission allegedly altered the Test’s qualification norms by mandating that candidates in the general category score an aggregate of 65% for all three of the NET’s papers to become eligible for lectureship. The corresponding figure for the OBC category is 60 % and that of the SC/ST category is 55 %

In the light of the student protests and representations, the UGC released a supplementary list on November 12, 2012, which although qualified a few more candidates, but it did not specify any criteria for the revised list.Also there were anomalies in the results declared where candidates securing less than 50 percent aggregate were declared as qualified whereas many general candidates with more 60 percent remained unqualified

More than 7000 candidates approached the Kerala High Court against the University Grants Commission (UGC)

 The Kerala HC declared as illegal the new norms fixed by UGC for the National Eligibility Test (NET) for college and university lectureship. The court held that fixing of higher aggregate marks for three categories (General, OBC and SC/ST), that too just before the announcements of results, cannot be justified as the same was "not supportable by law"

SC upholds changed NET criteria Thursday Sep 19,2013

The Supreme Court, on Thursday Sep 19,2013 upheld the policy of the University Grants Commission (UGC) for fixing eligibility criteria for candidates to qualify in the National Eligibility Test (NET), saying it is not “arbitrary and illegal.”

The SC Bench was hearing a petition of the UGC, challenging a Bombay High Court order setting aside the eligibility criteria fixed by the UGC after holding NET in June 2012. A single-judge Bench of the Kerala High Court and a Division Bench of the Bombay High Court set aside the criteria. 

The SC Bench, headed by Justice K.S. Radhakrishnan, said courts shall not interfere in matters of education unless there was a violation of statutory provisions, and the UGC could lay down any qualifying criteria.