To,  

1.      The Hon’ble Minister for Human Resource Development            Government of India, New Delhi,

2.      The Secretary, Ministry of Human Resource Development, and

3.      The Chairman, University Grants Commission, New Delhi.

 From:

1.      The Forum for demanding the Hike of Non-NET Fellowship, and,

2.      the Research Scholars at Central Universities accross the country 

Subject: Appeal by the Research Scholars at Central Universities for the Hike of Non-NET Fellowship with immediate and retrospective effect.

 Respected Madam/Respected Sirs,

With due respect and necessary submission to you kind attention, we the above mentioned parties would like to keep the following matters of grievance before you, and expect you serious contemplation and necessary action. The subject of appeal is regarding the Hike of NON-NET Fellowship and related grievances/appeals.  

1.      You must be aware of the fact that, the Union finance Ministry has approved the enhancement in fellowships, according to which the Ph. D scholars have been entitled with emolument of their fellowship to Rs. 28,000/per month (with other allowances). Accordingly, the agencies like the CSIR, the DST, the ICMR, the DAE including the MHRD have taken the initiative to implement this new hike-plan of fellowships.

 2.      While the MHRD has announced to enhance the fellowship of the JRF holders (through UGC-NET/JRF Exams) and of others (fellowship of RGNF, and MANF), it forgot to hike the UGC Non-NET fellowship.  Though the dependants on this fellowship are of the majority size of the total number of research scholars in the country, and most of them are the researchers (M. Phil/Ph. D Students) at Central Universities.  So, it is a matter of great frustration for the Research Scholars at Central Universities that, the MHRD and the UGC has forgotten to care for the majority size of the Researchers who are hooked on UGC-non-NET fellowship. 

3.      It is to mention that non-NET Fellowship has been instituted as a special scheme to support the bright research scholars who come to pursue their research at Central Universities (many leaving their family and kinship too far) who do not get a tough-screening JRF and do not qualify to avail other special scholarship like RGNF or MANF, or fail to avail fellowship from any other source. 

4.      It is to further mention that the “Non-NET fellowship holders” do include the researchers in various fields of Social Sciences, Humanities, Arts, interdisciplinary Research as well various branches of Sciences. Most importantly, and approximately more than half-size numbers of the Research Scholars in all Central Universities are dependent on Non-NET fellowship. 

5.      Though we the Research Scholars who are dependent on Non-NET fellowship are the worst sufferers out of inflation and due to our socio-economic backwardness, the UGC and the MHRD forgot to care for them.  We think Inflation matters to all, but it matters more, when many of us belong to lower-middle class and poor families with meagre socio-economic background.   While Inflation has been consistently high, and price rise have been 50-100%, this has made us facing several hurdles.

6.      We find it is going tough, particularly these scholars at new Central Universities. Because, these universities have severely failed to provide hostels, affordable food and necessary amenities to their researchers to do concentrated research work. These are the scenario, which have made these scholars quite troubling often resulted into the severe compromising in the quality research output.

7.      Youngsters come to do research and spent their youth-time living harder life, keeping behind the long-awaiting expectation of their old parents and aggrieved family members. We Research Scholars spend about 5-6 years of youth in there PhD, sacrificing the major segment of their youth life and good earning.

8.      The condition of some the scholars are up to the extent of shoddier that they are forced to remain themselves half-fed and manage to save a size of their fellowship money to send and support their aggrieving families and old parents.

9.      What more the government at Centre, the MHRD and the UGC want to see than this? Still, the problem of genuine necessity of these scholars remains a non-issues or an unimportant one! What we find that the attitude of the government towards us so far discouraging, so also towards the new-comers into research field.

10.  If India lives in villages, it is obvious that its brilliant human resource pool is living in villages.  It is equally obvious that these youngsters do not belong to rich families, rather belong to middle class and low-income families.  Is this the way of step-motherly attitude can attract these brilliant human resources to pursue research for the progress and development of the country? If the government envisions country’s progress to stand on the pillars of socio-scientific research, it needs to value and respect the sacrifice of the researchers and at the same time it must care to afford towards their sustainable persistence and comfortable survival.

11.  When government wants to compete with developed countries in terms of Research output in numbers and quality, the basis of statics on which the UGC, the MHRD and the government take pride also includes these suffering scholars. But to what extent these scholars can afford to contribute the research pool of the country with their empty-stomach and empty bank-account?  How can the policy of providing lucrative fellowship amount to a section of researchers will serve the real purpose, unless the government seriously take necessary steps to feed the all the bright research scholars working hard at national institutions?

12.  We strongly feel that the government (particularly the MHRD and the UGC) need to care for all research scholars (and not a section among them) who are working at premier national institutions particularly Central Universities.  This issue has never been taken and debated seriously, even by some sections of the student leadership, who do not underline this genuine need and the grievance of the research scholars.

13.  As mentioned above, the Non-NET fellowship in fact is a scheme to for those who fail to avail fellowships from other available sources.  This scheme has nothing to do in totality with NET qualification.  The term Non-NET fellowship does not sound rational in totality but also discouraging and disrespecting.  The term “Non-NET Fellowship” itself is incongruous and self-contradictory, as much of this fellowship holders have qualified UGC-NET though could not match their score to the CUT-OFF Level or have cross the defined age limits to qualify for a JRF.

14.  While, it seems to be responsibility of the MHRD and the UGC to provide fellowship to the NET qualified doing their researches; but in contrast, the irrational, unscientific and discriminatory formula of CUT-OFF have kept the majority of the researchers deprived of their right of equality in pursuing their research amicably and successfully.  Though, the failure of the government to provide fellowship to all NET qualifiers has been criticised by the students and research scholars for several instance, the UGC has been unbending to such criticism.

15.  It is to mention the best case-in-point that, the Scholars who enter into the premier institutes like IITs/IIMs or other national institutions including central universities to pursue a research, they all go through the similar rigorous process of entrance system.  In IITs and IIMs, those who are not the holders of a JRF or similar fellowship are also provided a fellowship by these institutions themselves. But, such fellowship is called institutional fellowship, not non-NET or non-JRF fellowship.  Then, why not MHRD and the UGC can dutifully call the non-NET fellowship given at Central Universities to be Institutional Fellowship also?

Rationality of NET Examination is a question for us:

16.  The non-NET fellowship holders are always kept out of consideration and seem to be treated as second class researchers (so far the amount and award of fellowship is concerned). It is continuously been so, as the prevailing misconception that these scholars are considered to have failed to score a certain level of cut-off marks.  The scholars who are pursuing their research at Central Universities have been admitted through Nation-wide-held rigorous competitive entrance tests followed by interviews including fulfilling the other necessary prerequisite.  Treating these scholars as second class researchers (in terms of the miserable amount of fellowship given to these scholars) is highly discoursing, and at the same time it is quite dispiriting enhancement of higher education and research in the country.

17.  NET is criticised to be single tool of examining/screening scholars conducted for dual purposes. First it is conducted as an eligibility certification enabling one to apply for a post of Asst. Professor in the institutions of higher education; and second, it is conducted for award of research fellowship to few numbers of research scholars among a huge pool of researchers. The screening process is done in such a way that the certain percent of students at the highest score are awarded JRF, while the students with comparatively lower score are awarded with NET. If this condition is taken for granted, then the question of rationality strikes: “if someone does not qualify to be a good researcher (in the sense that he is not worth getting a scholarship), then how does he qualify to be an eligible person for assistant professor, who is supposed to teach, assist and guide a researcher?  Alternatively if the particular scholars do qualify to be asst. Professor, then it is obvious that he/she perfectly deserves to be an able researcher and therefore, the government must care to support him/her in all respect including an award of a good fellowship. But, as this actually does not happen in practice, many of us found NET to be irrational, contradictory and non-convincing.  It is not convincing because it does not guarantee a job to a qualifier, though it at certain scale guarantee a fellowship to the few among the qualifiers.  It is quite irrational and discriminatory because it seriously disheartens thousands of scholars in the country who have remained seriously engaged in national progress.   

18.  Though, all researchers with a NET will qualify to apply for or become an Asst. Professor, but all researchers do not need to, or will not prefer to become an Asst. Professor.  All researchers will not prefer to become a part of the trend of researching in India which is often criticised to be the continuation of the cycle of production and reproduction of researchers, research papers and research degree holders.  

19.  Now it is essential that the young researchers are linked to, while their knowledge and output are disseminated for the advancement of social progress and nation building. Now most the researchers want that they are made the intricate part in national governance as well as in the socio-scientific progress in the country. So, if all the researchers do not pursue their research that only to be Assistant Professors, then, why does a researcher need to qualify the National Eligibility (NET) test for Asst. Professorship, and which only promise a scholarship to few out of large? 

20.  We strongly insist that, a researcher needs to be tested only of his/her ability whether he/she is able to carry out his desired area of research ably and scientifically. So, the tests conducted by central institutions and central Universities are enough to ascertain the purpose with a condition of compulsory fellowship awarded.  This is what the premiere institutes do while taking the new researcher into. Though many of the institutes exempt NET/JRF holders to entry through their entrance test which though remain compulsory for Non-NET students, it has been quite irony that in many of the instances, while a NET/JRF holder fails to qualify the entrance into researching, the so-called non-NET student could qualify it very comfortably and confidently.  So, many of scholar argue that NET has nothing to do with the research scholars ability and interest to pursue a research. Therefore, NET should not be criteria for deciding the award of fellowship to few, and depriving many. NET should simply be for eligibility for Asst. Professorship/lectureship. The concerned institution or coordinated mechanism (of all national institutions/central universities) can conduct specific tests to ascertain the ability and interest of the researchers, and  all researchers should be provided a good fellowship asserting their comfort means of survival and successful research outcome.

21.  Many of the research scholars at Central Universities (who are only surviving on UGC-Non-NET fellowship) are pursuing multi-disciplinary/trans-disciplinary/inter-disciplinary research, which in many cases do not match to their degree what they qualified at their Masters/Post Graduation.  Many of the scholars are the holders of the Master Degree which the UGC has never cared to bring into the list of UGC-NET, or put them under the allied subject to appear for the NET. In such case, what should be criteria for a scholar to get a fellowship that is of JRF equivalence? So, keeping the above arguments in points, we feel that JRF award based on NET Exam and the associated fixed gauges should not be the criteria for award of fellowship to the researchers at Central universities. 

22.  After the brief elaboration of the above aggrieving facts before you and to conclude,  it is important to reiterate that the UGC has been unheard of the demand and need of the thousands of Non-NET Scholarship holders for long and have often neglected their concerns.  We strongly feel that If some convincing steps are not take swiftly in the above regard, this will not only be a seriously discouraging, disrespecting for the thousands of research Scholars working in Premier Institutions in this country, but also will put these huge numbers of scholars to the serious state of deficiencies and depressions, which will seriously inhibit their researching life and in ultimate it will awfully affect the outcome of their hard-pursuing research.  Further, this will not be a good illustration for the future researchers as well as for the country’s progress in the research fields.  Keeping this hard fact before you we therefore request that:

A.    hike the Non-NET Fellowship at par the other research fellowship with immediate and retrospective effect (from the starting of the financial year of 2014);

B.     give all other allowance with the Non-NET fellowship at par the other research fellowships;

C.    increase the contingency amount to at least Fifty Thousand per Annum;

D.    rename the Non-NET fellowship as “Institutional Fellowship”/Central University Fellowship/MHRD Fellowship (whatever suitably possible) keeping the dignity of the research scholars at the highest consideration;

E.     and, ensure right-time disbursement and direct-account transfer of fellowship to the research scholars’ account.

 Yours

Research Scholars at Central Universities, and

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