The chairman of the University Grants Commission (UGC), M. Jagadesh Kumar, stated that a Ph.D. is not mandatory for hiring assistant professors in central universities. Speaking at the inauguration of the newly constructed UGC-HRDC building on the Osmania University (OU) campus, Kumar added that a qualification in the Commission’s National Eligibility Test (NET) would be sufficient for it, reported Telangana Today.

The decision was made to allow individuals without PhDs to be hired as assistant professors at Indian universities. Additionally, the initiative intends to open possibilities for professionals who want to teach in universities but are unable to do so because they lack a Ph.D.