To overcome the humiliation of failure in the first Ayush national eligibility test (Ayush Net) conducted by Central Council for Research in Ayurvedic Sciences (CCRAS) in January this year, the post graduates in siddha stream in Tamil Nadu are planning to appeal to the union ayush ministry for one more chance this year to write the NET in order to fill up the allotted five seats in Siddha research.

PG siddhars across the state are awfully ashamed of their poor performances in the examination and zero result in the national eligibility test conducted by the central government for award of Ph D fellowship. Not a single candidate could clear the test or at least achieve the minimum cut-off mark due to difficult and unusual theoretical  pattern of questions.

According to siddhars who want to do researches, if the government does not give a second chance within a short period, the research program in Siddha stream will be halted this year, and the students have to wait for another one year. Besides, the crores of rupees allotted for research in the system will be lapsed.

To save the talented students from the critical situation, a memorandum is prepared to be submitted to the union ayush ministry, said Dr. Arul Amutham, senior grade lecturer and team leader of siddha research at the Manipal University.

“Once the government allows a re-examination by assigning CCRS for conducting the eligibility test, the research can be taken forward without any halt. Further, the money allotted for research will not be lapsed. Government can do a lot to develop the system. For this time, if the government reduces the cut off marks a little, the minimum number of students can easily join the research program”, said he.

Those who have attended the Ayush NET allege that the reason for their utter failure is due to lack of good books and scientific guidance. No one could answer the 90 subject related questions correctly and completely. According to them students appearing for the entrance examinations conducted by Central Council of Research in Siddha (CCRS) are doing well and qualify with good marks. This time, the Ayush NET was conducted by CCRAS in Delhi and the questions were prepared by somebody other than CCRS experts.

However, the siddhars themselves agree that they have to improve their standard and increase knowledge in the subject as the institutions are not helping the students for more knowledge or making them prepared for a national level test. Similarly, the quality of the teachers must be improved. The teachers both in the government and private institutions in Tami Nadu are not learning themselves well and their knowledge is very poor, the students allege.

“There should be revolutionary changes in the theoretical pattern of questions for the national test. The universities while conducting entrance test for PG courses and the Tamil Nadu public service commission (TN PSC) are following the theoretical pattern in their questions. The institutions which produce Siddha graduates and post graduates must provide result oriented coaching for their students”, said a woman post graduate who wrote the NET exam.

Whereas, experts in Siddha stream are of opinion that the CCRS Chennai can play very vital role for grooming students for national test, but it seems defunct due to lack of dynamic leadership.