IIT Delhi Students Slam Government For ‘Minimal Hike’ In Fellowships, Call It An ‘Insult’ And A ‘Betrayal’

Protesting IIT Delhi research scholars who were demanding a hike in fellowship slammed the Central government’s hike on 30 January calling it a ‘minimal amount’ and said that it was ‘unacceptable’ and a ‘betrayal’, reports The Times Of India.

The Central government had hiked the fellowship for Junior Research Fellow (JRF) in the first two years of the PhD programme from Rs 25,000 to Rs 31,000 per month. During the remaining tenure of the programme, a senior research fellow will get Rs 35,000 instead of the present Rs 28,000. The will reportedly benefit almost 60,000 research scholars in India.

However, IIT Delhi students slammed the government saying the negligence of research interests in the country sends a clear message to the world about the sorry state of affairs in the bureaucracy and lack of political will to improve education.

The mere increase in scholarship is an insult to the research scholars, said the students of IIT Delhi.

“Research scholars of IIT Delhi, along with researchers from every part of the country, have been protesting for several months for the hike in research fellowships. After regular intimations to the ministries and agencies concerned, expressing our genuine demands, this hike is unjustified and not acceptable," one of the scholars was quoted saying by TOI.

The scholars had reportedly demanded a hike of 80 per cent with a revision in HRA. The government, however, said there was a substantial enhancement of 30-35 per cent in the financial assistance for scientists involved in research and development (R&D) projects.