Students who took the PhD Fellowship CET exam on Sunday, December 24, have raised concerns about potential irregularities, alleging that the question paper used in the exam was identical to the one utilized for the SET exam in 2019. The exam, organized by the Maharashtra State Education Department, marked the first instance of the state conducting an entrance exam for PhD fellowships. Students in Pune, Mumbai, Nagpur, and Aurangabad reported that the question paper was a replica of the 2019 edition, featuring 50 questions, each valued at 2 points.
Pramod Patil, a coordinator representing the state PhD NET SET students, condemned the situation as a possible PhD fellowship scam, asserting that individuals with knowledge of the previous paper could easily pass by answering the 2019 questions. He also expressed concerns about potential leaks of the paper to certain students before the exam, advocating for a re-conduct of the assessment. The exam, managed by Sarthi, BARTI, and Mahajyoti, was supposed to feature a question paper prepared by a committee of experts. However, the use of an outdated paper has triggered suspicion and skepticism surrounding the examination process. As of now, the education department has not issued any statement addressing these allegations.