Researchers demand stipend hike, protest from Wednesday
NEW DELHI: On Wednesday, around 2,000 research scholars will take out a protest in Delhi outside the ministry of human resources development (MHRD) to demand an 80 to 100% hike in their fellowship awards.
Currently, junior research fellows — researchers who have just completed their masters — receive ₹25,000 plus House Rent Allowance (HRA), and senior research fellows — students in the last three years of their PHD course — receive ₹28,000 plus HRA.
The last hike in fellowship awards happened in 2014.
Scholars say they have been demanding a hike since October and have so far received only assurances on Twitter from authorities.
“We have been given several deadlines and now we have decided to protest outside the MHRD and sit on hunger strike at Jantar Mantar on January 16,” said Nikhil Gupta, national coordinator of research scholars and a research fellow at Centre of Bio- medical Research, Lucknow. “We have met the principal scientific advisor, the secretary of the department of science and technology, the minister for human resource development and every time we just get assurances on Twitter.”
“Happy to learn that @FinMinindia has wrapped up discussions on #fellowship hike. Hike imminent. Required paperwork is being processed. @Pmoindia @drharshvardhan @PrinsciAdvgoi @Ashutos61 @Indiadst @Hikefellowship @ResearchSchola6,” the Principal Scientific Advisor to the Prime Minister Prof K Vijayraghavan had tweeted on January 10.
“Whenever we ask about the hike, we are told that it is in process. Even though the Principal Scientific Advisor has said that there will be a hike, we haven’t even been told how much will it increase and by when,” said Vikash Chaturvedi who works at National Chemical Laboratory of the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research.
“The file is with the finance ministry right now; something of this magnitude has to be approved by them. And, we are also looking at developing a mechanism for regular increase in the fellowship amount,” said Ashutosh Sharma, secretary, department of science and technology.
Apart from the hike, the scholars have been demanding timely payment and the creation of an organisation to look into regular and uniform hike every year across all scientific institutions.