The All India Research Scholars’ Association (AIRSA), today, Thursday, June 1, met the Secretary of the Department of Science and Technology (DST) regarding their long-standing demand for a hike in research fellowship and regular disbursement of the fellowship.
The research scholars have been demanding a hike in their fellowship for over nine months now. However, after a recent tweet by the DST that asked the researchers to “have patience”, the protests gained momentum again.
On May 15, the researchers at the Indian Institute of Science Education and Research (IISER), Berhampur, staged a protest demanding immediate action from the authorities.
A similar protest was organised by the researchers at the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Roorkee on Tuesday, May 23. Adding to this, research scholars from IIT Delhi, IIT Madras, and IIT Palakkad have also demanded a 60-80 per cent hike in fellowship, in line with the rate of inflation.
What are the demands?
Research scholars in India have highlighted a number of issues that the community faces on a regular basis. Primarily, their demands focus on a hike in research fellowship and regular disbursement of the fellowship every month.
The researchers added that the fellowship used to be revised every four years in order to keep up with the inflation rate and rising cost of institutional expenses such as accommodation, hostels and mess facilities. However, there has been no hike in research fellowships for more than four years now.
“As per the inflation rate that we have calculated, there should be a hike of at least 62 per cent in the fellowship. This is to ensure that they can provide for the basic requirements without financial strain. The fellowship that is being provided by the research institutes now is nowhere fit for survival in metropolitan cities,” explained Dr Lal Chandra Vishwakarma, President, AIRSA.
Researchers complained that the fellowship is often not disbursed every month regularly adding to their woes.
The protestors have demanded the authorities establish a system for regular disbursement of fellowships from the funding agency to ensure financial stability for research scholars.
Stop harassment of PhD scholars
AIRSA has also shown concern about the recent suicide cases of PhD scholars in India.
Giving the example of the suicide by Sachin Kumar Jain, a 32-year-old PhD student at IIT Madras, Dr Vishwakarma spoke, “There is a lack of facilities for research scholars, even at premier research institutes. There is no time limit like a 9 to 5 job in the research field, the researchers are not being paid on time every day, and they are being harassed by the teachers. That is why many PhD students get suicidal thoughts.”
Courtesy : Edex