Clarification on UGC Regulations on Minimum Qualifications and for appointment of teachers and other

PUBLIC NOTICE

6 July 2023

Subject: Clarification on UGC Regulations on Minimum Qualifications and for appointment of teachers and other academic staff in universities and colleges and measures for the maintenance of standards in higher education, 2018 and 1" & 2nd Amendments

UGC Regulations 2018 prescribe, among other things, minimum qualifications for the appointment of Assistant Professors in Universities and Colleges. The minimum qualification set by the Regulations for Assistant Professors is NET/SET/SLET. However, clause 3.10 of UGC Regulations 2018 also says that Ph.D. Degree shall be a mandatory qualification for direct recruitment to the post of Assistant Professor in Universities effective 01.07.2021. The applicability of this condition was extended till 1st July 2023 through an amendment notified on 12th October 2021.

Further, on 1st July 2023, this clause was amended again (2nd amendment), prescribing NET/SET/SLET as the minimum eligibility criteria for the direct recruitment of Assistant Professors.

Clause 3.10 is a general condition. In the discipline-wise eligibility criteria given under clause nos. 4.0, 4.2. 4.3, in the UGC Regulations 2018, it is mentioned that for Master's degree holders, NET/SLET/SET is the minimum eligibility criteria, and Ph.D. degree holders are exempted from NET/SLET/SET. To make this point clear, the eligibility criteria prescribed for the disciplines of Arts, Commerce, Humanities, Education, Law, Social Sciences, Sciences, Languages, Library Science, Physical Education, and Journalism & Mass Communication as given under clause 4.1 in the UGC Regulations 2018, are reproduced below:

A Master's degree with 55% marks (or an equivalent grade on a point scale wherever the grading system is followed) in a concerned/relevant/allied subject from an Indian University or an equivalent degree from an accredited foreign university. ii) Besides fulfilling the above qualifications, the candidate must have cleared the National Eligibility Test (NET) conducted by the UGC or the CSIR, or a similar test accredited by the UGC, like SLET/SET, or who are or have been awarded a Ph. D. Degree in accordance with the University Grants Commission (Minimum Standards and Procedure for Award of M.Phil/Ph.D. Degree) Regulations, 2009 or 2016 and their amendments from time to time as the case may be exempted from NET/SLET/SET

It is clear from the above that UGC has amended the general condition clause no. 3.10, which stipulates Ph.D. as a mandatory requirement from 1st July 2023. The detailed eligibility criteria given under various disciplines are not amended, and it is mentioned clearly that NET/SLET/SET is the minimum requirement for the direct recruitment of an Assistant Professor for those who do not have a Ph.D. degree.

But holders of Ph.D. degrees awarded as per UGC Regulations and its amendments are exempted from NET/SLET/SET and thereby eligible for direct recruitment to the post of Assistant Professor.

(Manish Joshi)