e n

Javadekar: Fellowship grants will be increased by up to 50%

Union HRD minister tells agitating research scholars that an official announcement will be made soon

Prakash Javadekar, union minister for human resource development, has assured the research scholars who have launched a nationwide agitation for an increase in their fellowship grants that their demands would be met. On December 26, he told a delegation of Youth Scientists Society (YSS) which met him with the demand, that a decision was being arrived at and would be made public soon.

Lalchandra Vishwakarma, president of YSS, said that they had met Javadekar and handed over a memorandum to him, demanding that the fellowship grants be increased by up to 80 per cent and the announcement be made before the new year. Among others, Manoj Chahal of IIT Kanpur, Vikki Nandlal of IIT Delhi, Nikhil Gupta of CBMR SGPGI Lucknow and Saurav Mazumdar of IISC Bengaluru were part of the delegation.

Representatives of organizations of research scholars submit a memorandum to Union HRD Minister Prakash Javadekar

Lalchandra Vishwakarma said that when asked about the size of the increase, the minister recalled that the raise in 2014 was 50-55 per cent. “We are giving the issue a serious consideration,” Javadekar assured them.

Also read: Better late than never: Stipends of research scholars to be raised this week

As it was reported earlier, highly placed sources had told FORWARD Press that the government was looking at just a 15 per cent raise.  After FORWARD Press published this report, research scholars from all over the country launched an agitation. Principal Scientific Adviser to the Government of India K. Vijay Raghavan, Secretary to the Union Department of Science and Techology Prof Ashutosh Sharma and Harshvardhan, the minister in charge of the department, had also given similar assurances earlier. The agitating scholars want a 80 per cent raise to be announced this month.

Translation: Amrish Herdenia; copy-editing: Anil

Updated: 27 December 2018, 9.52 am)


Forward Press also publishes books on Bahujan issues. Forward Press Books sheds light on the widespread problems as well as the finer aspects of Bahujan (Dalit, OBC, Adivasi, Nomadic, Pasmanda) society, culture, literature and politics. Contact us for a list of FP Books’ titles and to order. Mobile: +917827427311, Email: info@forwardmagazine.in)

The titles from Forward Press Books are also available on Kindle and these e-books cost less than their print versions. Browse and buy:

 

The Case for Bahujan Literature

Mahishasur: A people’s hero

Dalit Panthers: An Authoritative History

Mahishasur: Mithak wa Paramparayen

The Common Man Speaks Out

Jati ke Prashn Par Kabir

About The Author

FP Desk

Related Articles

World-class private universities and Hindu-Hindi public universities
Opposing the use of the English language as the medium of teaching and learning in public institutions and allowing it to flourish in private...
World-class private universities and Hindu-Hindi public universities
Opposing the use of the English language as the medium of teaching and learning in public institutions and allowing it to flourish in private...