Kirit Somaiya’s son’s “speedy” Phd draws ire
Mumbai: Acquiring a PhD degree is a momentous occasion for a student, deserving accolades from family and peers
Mumbai: Acquiring a PhD degree is a momentous occasion for a student, deserving accolades from family and peers. However, 31-year-old Neil Kirit Somaiya’s joy at his recent achievement was thwarted by educationists, who are questioning his recent feat in 16 months. They are also insinuating that his political lineage (as politician Kirit Somaiya’s son) may have played a part in securing, what they have termed “express Phd”, from University of Mumbai (MU).
Somaiya was awarded his PhD on October 1, 2022, just 16 months after he had registered, and 45 days after the submission of his thesis and a day after his viva voce.
“Somaiya registered as a student with the Sydenham Institute of Management Studies, Research and Entrepreneurship Education (SIMSREE) in 2017, and finally registered his topic in June 2021,” said an official from SIMSREE, on condition of anonymity.
“Students wait for months and years for their viva voce date, but in this case, MU seems to have gone above and beyond to ensure the candidate not only gets preference for the viva, but also that his Phd is awarded the very next day. It seems like special preference was given to the candidate just because he is a politician’s son,” said a senior MU professor.
Somaiya appeared for the PhD Entrance Test (PET) in 2016 and secured admission at SIMSREE in 2017. His topic -- ‘A study of perception and social media impact on political party image’ -- was registered on June 1, 2021. The thesis was submitted on August 17, 2022, and his viva was conducted on September 30, 2022.
“I’ve gone through gruelling years of study and research, and submitted my thesis on time,” said Somaiya.
A spokesperson for MU however said, “The time between Somaiya’s PhD registration and submission (16 months) is well within the rules -- a minimum period of one year for submission of the thesis after registration, underlined in section 7, sub-section 3 of VCD/ 947 of 2018.”
Somaiya had originally applied to register for his PhD topic in March 2020, which was accepted only in June 2021. This delay was due to the lockdown following the Covid-19 pandemic, which had halted a lot of work at MU.