THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: At a time when doctoral theses are under the scanner for malpractices, the decision of the Institute of Management in Kerala (IMK) under the Kerala University to conduct open defence of a PhD thesis on a holiday has raised many eyebrows.
According to an official communication from J Rajan, professor and Head of the Department of IMK, the open defence of the PhD thesis of Sheena N on the topic ‘A Study on Entrepreneurial Skill Among Professional Students’ is slated to be held on March 28. Surprisingly, the chosen date is a fourth Saturday, when all the University Departments will remain closed.
“The selection of a holiday to conduct open defence raises suspicion. Research guides, research supervisors, doctoral committee members and research scholars in management and commerce are supposed to attend the event. Since it is a holiday, very few are expected to turn up,” a top source said.
“The attempt, we believe, is to ensure that only minimum people attend the open defence so that the thesis can be approved without much scrutiny or questioning,” the source said. S Durga Rao, professor and Head of the Department of Management Studies of Sree Venkateswara University, Tirupati, would be the chairman for conducting the open defence on March 28. When contacted by Express for his comments, Rajan said that fourth Saturday was chosen for the convenience of the chairman. “The details of the open defence has been put up on the notice board and mailed to all stakeholders concerned,” he claimed. However, when asked why the pre-synopsis viva of the same candidate was held at the University headquarters at Palayam and not at IMK in Kariavattom, Rajan said it was conducted at the old building of IMK located at Palayam for ‘convenience’.
A section of research scholars who suspect foul play told Express that they want Vice-Chancellor P K Radhakrishnan to intervene so as to ensure that the open defence is conducted on a working day, under proper scrutiny and review.