Despite kick-starting their PhD registrations as early as January, commerce students from Mumbai University are stuck in limbo. The three students were shortlisted in February and laid out their proposal before the Research Advisory Committee (RAC) in June, but are unable to move on to the next steps owing to the lack of a single signature.

Since their meeting with the RAC, the students have been frequenting the department week after week to get the signature of the department head for their proposal or topic approval meeting. However, they have been allegedly turned away for over a month without being given any reason.

“I have a six-month-old daughter, and I travel to the Kalina Campus from Navi Mumbai every week. I wait outside the department head’s office for hours together, all for a signature. However, we have been turned away day after day. and we haven’t been given proper reasoning,” said a research aspirant from the department.