Students plan to boycott Fellowship Test Exam on Jan. 10

The majority of students appearing for the exam are from MAHAJYOTI however the BARTI Research Students’ Struggle Action Committee has appealed to all aspirants to boycott the exam

The Fellowship Test Examination held by the Savitribai Phule Pune University (SPPU) SET department for the fellowship offered through BARTI (Dr Babasaheb Ambedkar Research and Training Institute), SARTHI (Chhatrapati Shahu Maharaj Research, Training and Human Development Institute), and MAHAJYOTI (an autonomous institute of the other backward class Bahujan welfare department, Government of Maharashtra) will be conducted on January 10. Preparations for the exam have been completed and it will be held in four major cities of the state with 3,475 students appearing for the exam. The majority of students appearing for the exam are from MAHAJYOTI however the BARTI Research Students’ Struggle Action Committee has appealed to all aspirants to boycott the exam.

On December 24, 2023, the exam was conducted by the SET department of the SPPU for the fellowship offered through SARTHI and MAHAJYOTI. (HT PHOTO)

Balasaheb Kapadnis, coordinator of the SET department, said, “A one-hour Fellowship Test (CET) Examination has been planned on January 10 from 10 am to 11 am. Fifty questions will be asked and each question will carry 100 marks. Among the students registered for the exam, there are 1,329 students from BARTI and 1,383 students from MAHAJYOTI. After the examination, a merit list of students will be announced and given to the concerned institutions.”

On December 24, 2023, the exam was conducted by the SET department of the SPPU for the fellowship offered through SARTHI and MAHAJYOTI. However, the SET exam paper of 2019 was used without any changes. Hence, the students raised objections to the entire examination process and the exam was cancelled. But the exam is now going to be held on January 10 in four cities namely Pune, Kolhapur, Aurangabad and Nagpur, with two examination centres in Pune and one examination centre each in the remaining cities.

Meanwhile, most of the aspirants have decided to boycott the exam. Praveen Gaikwad from the BARTI Research Students’ Struggle Action Committee said, “The director-general of BARTI announced the cancellation of the CET exam to the students in a written form and on the official website of BARTI, but on the evening of January 2, 2024, BARTI misled the students by removing the cancellation form from the website and issuing a letter stating that the CET exam will be held on the scheduled date on January 10. We are going to boycott the exam and we appeal to all the aspiring students who have applied for it not to appear for the exam.”