The Department of Science and Technology (DST), today, Thursday, June 22, announced a hike in research fellowships in India after several demands from the research community.
As per the hike, Junior Research Fellows (JRFs) 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.
However, researchers across India have called out the authorities, saying that the hike is not sufficient considering the rate of inflation.
Researchers react...
The researchers pointed out that only 20 per cent hike has been issued by the government as against their demand for at least a 60 per cent hike.
"In 2014, the hike was 56 per cent, in 2019, the hike was 24 per cent and now, in 2023 the hike is less than 20 per cent. If you consider the inflation rate, it is much higher. This hike is not at all acceptable. The DST had assured that the hike will be as per our expectations. We will be boycotting this hike and will urge the DST to reconsider the same," said Bishwajit Panda, a research scholar at the Indian Institute of Science Education and Research (IISER), Berhampur, Odisha.
Researchers also complained that the authorities do not revise the fellowship hike automatically every year, as should be the case. This time, the scholars had been protesting for over 10 months before the hike was instated.
"The fellowship amount will continue for the next four years and if inflation continues at the same rate, it will become very hard for the scholars to survive with this money. We had demanded a 60 per cent hike considering all these aspects," said a research scholar from the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Madras on the condition of anonymity.
Researchers at IIT Madras added that they might hold a protest against the fellowship hike if it is not reconsidered.
The PhD scholars added that due to insufficient and irregular fellowships, many of the researchers have quit the research and development field.
"It is good that they have hiked the fellowship but we were expecting more than this. For JRF, it should at least be hiked to Rs 50,000 and to Rs 65,000 for SRF (Senior Research Fellowship)," said Kiran Kumar Gowd, President, All India OBC Students’ Association (AIOBCA).
