More than four years since the last hike in research fellowship, on January 30, the Ministry of Science and Technology announced a 24-25% hike in research fellowship for Junior Research Fellows (JRFs) and Senior Research Fellows (SRFs) respectively. The revised emoluments of ₹31,000 per month for JRFs and ₹35,000 per month for SRFs will take effect from January 1, 2019.
The percentage hike is lowest compared with previous ones — 60% in 2006, 50% in 2007, 33% in 2010 and 56% in 2014. Research scholars who have been demanding 80% hike in fellowship for the last six months are unhappy with the hiked fellowship and plan to continue the protest.
Reacting to this, Prof. K. VijayRaghavan, Principal Scientific Adviser to the Government of India in an email to The Hindu said: “Previous hikes were steps taken at about four-year intervals. The Department of Science and Technology (DST) has put in place a mechanism for regular review. So, this is better seen as the base of a ‘ramp’”.
Dispelling the wrong notion that the hike is restricted only to research scholars who have CSIR/UGC NET exams, Prof. said: “In addition to the these exams, the hike is applicable to those qualifying through a set of national level exams. Thus, institutions can set up ways by which ‘non-NET’ students, now paid very low levels can take these [other] exams, set by the host institutions and benefit. This greatly expands the pool of students getting the fellowships. This will benefit people in many institutions, including M. Tech students.”
Empowered committee
“An empowered committee has been formed to bring all ministries together to periodically visit the quantum of fellowship and incentivise research,” DST Secretary Prof. Ashutosh Sharma said at a press conference. The committee is yet to meet and look into the operational part.
Besides looking into the issue of fellowship hike periodically, the committee will look into incentivising quality research through various measures.
“There will be incentives for publications and patents. This will be calibrated carefully, allowing a baseline standard to be rewarded, making it accessible to the median population and, in addition, excellence being rewarded too,” Prof. VijayRaghavan noted. “The goal is to gently nudge a turn towards quality (not quantity), driven by the student also taking the initiative. This will have the collateral consequence of an enhanced award, which can be significant. But the purpose is not to chase the latter metric, but to focus on quality science. The DST committee will welcome feedback and thoughts here.”
Dispelling fears that incentivising research might have negative fallout, Prof. Sharma said: “The idea is to help students and not punish them. There are twin goals. One is to recognise and reward students for excellence in research both monetarily and motivationally. At the same time, use it as a tool to improve the quality of science being done.”
Incentives for teaching and research assistance are also being considered. “This will have the important impact on career opportunities becoming clearer,” Prof. VijayRaghavan said in the email. The committee welcomes feedback on this issue as well.
Finally, contingencies for travel to meetings and workshops are also expected to be enhanced.
The other demand by fellows was concerning regular disbursal of fellowship. There have been instances where fellowship has not been disbursed for up to eight to ten months. The committee has been tasked to look into this issue as well. “The committee will also set in a place a mechanism to ensure speedy and timely disbursement of fellowships,” Prof. VijayRaghavan said.
