HYDERABAD: The University of Hyderabad (UoH) said on Wednesday that it had no record that the PhD scholar from its Urdu department, Saleha Begum, had ever applied for extension of her PhD or of her registering or de-regestring after finishing her fifth year of PhD in June 2016. Begum had recently posted on Facebook alleging that her PhD guide had harassed her and not permitted extension of her course. As per UoH policy extension of PhD for sixth year depends on recommendation of the Doctoral Research Committee.
UoH maintained that Begum had complained against her guides twice. After her first complaint, her guide was changed. After the second complaint, UoH officials and the Urdu department head suggested she de-register from the course. UoH said de-registration allowed students to return within five years to re-register and submit their dissertation. Regarding Begum being unable to avail of her entire Maulana Azad National Fellowship, UoH said she had availed of a UoH fellowship for five years and as per rules, a PhD student could not avail more than five years of fellowship from any public source.