The New India Foundation on Wednesday announced September 30 this year as the deadline for applications to the eighth round of its fellowship programme.
The Foundation’s Managing Trustee, Ramachandra Guha, said: “In the 69 years since the Independence, there has been a large body of work produced by Indian historians and social scientists. Taken singly, many of these studies are very impressive; viewed cumulatively, they add up to much less than what one might expect. It is this lack that the New India Foundation seeks to address, by sponsoring work of quality on the history of India since Independence”.
Mr. Guha said the fellowships, open only to Indian nationals, would be awarded for one year programmes and carry a stipend of Rs. 1,00,000 a month and fellowship holders shall be expected to write original books.
“Proposals should be oriented towards publication, and outline a road map towards that destination. The foundation is ecumenical as regards genre, theme, and ideology: the only requirement is that the proposed works contribute to the fuller understanding of independent India. Thus, fellowship holders may choose to write a memoir, or a work of reportage, or a thickly footnoted academic study,” he said, adding that their books could be oriented towards economics, or politics, or culture.
A book proposal and a writing sample of at least 5,000 words (published or unpublished) may be submitted to the Managing Trustee, The New India Foundation in Bangalore before the deadline.
