IMPHAL, June 22: Reacting to the news report published in some local dailies today wherein the Maoist Manipur alleged that the Department of Hindi, Manipur University had tarnished the image of MU on the issue of apparent plagiarism in four Ph.D. theses submitted through the department during the period 2001-09, Prof H Subadani Devi Head Department of Hindi, MU has clarified that any Department of the University including the Department of Hindi cannot award Ph.D. degrees on its own.
In a statement, the professor made it clear that award of Ph.D. degrees to Ph.D. candidates are done only by the Authorities of Manipur University in terms of the relevant Ph.D. regulations of the University.
The referred four candidates obtained their Ph.D. from Manipur University under the provisions of the Manipur University Ph.D. Regulations (Redrafted) 2001. Within the provisions of this regulation, many bodies of Manipur University at different levels namely, Departmental Research Committee of the Department of Hindi, Committee of Advanced Studies and Research of the School of Humanity, Board of thesis examiners and Viva-voce team of examiners were involved in the processes leading to award of Ph.D. degrees, it said.
The issuance of forwarding certificates from the Supervisor contained in the four theses is as per requirement of Clause 12 of Manipur University Ph.D. Regulations (Redrafted) 2001 and they were issued against submission of the candidates`™ Declaration statements. Even though the certificate contained a statement that the thesis embodies the candidate`™s original work, the onus for any form of irregularity found in the theses, will be solely on the concerned candidates because, the works belong to the candidates, it further clarified.
Stating that the issue raised by the Maoist Manipur regarding the apparent plagiarism found in the four theses is a matter already filed in the High Court of Manipur by Kh Jacko Meitei vs Manipur University under PIL Case No. 8 of 2015, the professor in the statement appealed to the concerned brethren of the Maoist Manipur to come to sense and understand the real situation and wait for the verdict of the court.