Twenty per cent revision in the amount given as national fellowship for SCs, national fellowship for OBCs and Maulana Azad national fellowship would help in attracting quality candidates, according to senior professors of Central Government institutions.
Additionally, house rent allowance at the revised rate of 8%, 16% and 24% is being allowed as per the Central government’s norms depending on the city/ location where the research fellows are working.
The rate of fellowship has increased to ₹ 31,000 for the first two years (Junior Research Fellowship) and ₹ 35,000 for the remaining tenure (Senior Research Fellowship) with effect from January 1, 2019. Till December 2018, the fellowship was ₹ 25,000 for the first two years, and ₹ 28,000 for the remaining tenure.
At the National Institute of Technology - Tiruchi (NIT-T), the JRF and SRF research fellows are being accommodated in the hostels. “In many cases, research scholars are pursuing their fellowships by simultaneously supporting their families financially. The hike would be a motivation to candidates. Similar to the increase in dearness allowance for government employees, the rise in scholarship amount was necessary for researchers, Samson Mathew, Dean -Students Welfare, NIT-T, said.
Research scholars opine that a higher hike could have been considered. The last hike happened in 2014: to ₹ 25,000 from ₹ 16,000 for JRFs and ₹ 28,000 from ₹18,000 for SRFs.
There was nationwide protest last year by research scholars demanding hike in monthly fellowship. Research students at the IITs, Indian Institute of Science -Bangalore, Central government labs, National Institutes of Technology and other institutions demanded JRF of ₹ 50,000 and SRF of ₹ 56,000.
About 8,000 Junior Research Fellows are selected every year through the National Eligibility Test.
A section of teachers advocates higher fellowship for students. The NET which was conducted earlier only for lectureship was extended to JRF only to promote research culture. “It is only logical that the amount of JRF and SRF scholarship for the specific durations must be on a par with the emoluments of an Assistant Professor chosen with NET qualification,” a senior professor of Bharathidasan University said.
