The University Grants Commission (UGC) will soon come out with a notification to give extension to PhD and MPhil students for their submissions, the UGC told office bearers of the Jawaharlal Nehru University Students' Union (JNUSU) on October 27. The UGC officials also said that a fund of Rs 120 crore has been disbursed on October 26 and will reach the JNU administration soon.
The research scholars have been adversely affected by the pandemic and lockdowns which has disrupted their research. "We received a positive response, that the UGC has not been hesitant towards giving extension, and as earlier months, will deliberate and soon come out with a notification regarding the same," said the JNUSU.
The students also discussed the issues about the non-disbursal of non-NET fellowship. "There are cases where students have not received a fellowship for the past 8-9 months and some cases even over a year," said the JNUSU. "The UGC officials responded that they have been regularly sending funds to JNU, and any issue happening regarding funds need to be dealt with at the level of JNU administration," said the students.
The JNUSU said that they had highlighted the issue regarding the JRF and non-NET recovery to UGC and as directed by UGC, had done a survey to collect data from students whose non-NET recovery was taken by JNU Administration other than the overlapping period. "The survey found out that the JNU Administration, by violating UGC guidelines have extracted an average of 40-50K and in some cases Rs 1 lakh from students unnecessarily. The UGC requested us to send the students who are affected directly to the UGC with all their details and proof of recovery so that they can start looking into the matter on an urgent basis," said the JNUSU. The students also spoke to the commission about other issues regarding the NET examination, centre change and funds disbursals. "The UGC has assured the JNUSU that students requiring a centre change should approach the NTA and that the UGC shall also convey the necessity of the demand to the NTA. The JNUSU shall also approach the NTA regarding the same," added the union.