After persistent protests and backlash from research scholars against the delay in the hike for research fellowships in India, the government has finally addressed the issue.
The Department of Science and Technology (DST), on Thursday, June 22, announced that the government has approved enhancing emoluments for Junior Research Fellows (JRF), Senior Research Fellows (SRF), and Research Associates (RAs) engaged in research and development activities.
The revised fellowships will be considered in effect from January 1, 2023. They put out a tweet regarding the same.
Revised fellowships
As per the revised structure, Junior Research Fellows will now receive a monthly fellowship of Rs. 37,000, which has been hiked from the existing Rs. 31,000. Similarly, Senior Research Fellows will be given Rs. 42,000 as compared to Rs. 35,000 earlier.
Moreover, Research Associates-I will now receive an amount of Rs 58,000 per month, which was earlier Rs 47,000. Fellowships for Research Associates-II have been hiked to Rs 61,000 from Rs 49,000 and for Research Associates-III to Rs 63,000 from existing Rs 54,000.
Protests, Twitter campaigns
Research scholars from most premiere institutes in India have been protesting continuously for over 10 months demanding a timely hike in research fellowships and regular disbursement of fellowships every month.
Researchers from IISER, IITs, and many other institutes recently took to Twitter to highlight their concerns and also met the DST regarding their concerns.
