After months of waiting and protests, it looks like the research scholars in the country can finally breathe a sigh of relief. K Vijayaraghavan, the principal scientific adviser of the Government of India assured the protesting researchers on Monday that the fellowship hike will be announced either on January 29 or 30.
A group of researchers met Vijayaraghavan who was delivering the foundation day lecture at IIT Delhi. "Even though he did not specify how much the hike will be, he told the researchers that the hike will be good enough. This is a huge relief for us," says Nikhil Gupta, National Representative and Coordinator of Research Scholars of India. The researchers from all the premier institutes in the country have been protesting for an 80 per cent hike in their stipends for months now. Vickey Nandal, an IIT Delhi researcher was informed by Vijayaraghavan today that the Department of Science and Technology is issuing an order of official memorandum in a few hours.
Even though they were assured by the HRD Minister Prakash Javadekar and at the Minister of Science & Technology Harsh Vardhan, they weren't informed about when the hike will be given and how much it will be. Recently, when we caught up with Dr Harsh Vardhan and posed a question on the same, he replied that the finance department is causing the delay.
Another issue faced by the researchers was the delayed disbursal of stipends and a hike only every four years. The researchers say that Vijayaraghavan also said that a committee will be set up soon to discuss these issues and come up with a feasible solution soon.
