NEFIS demands immediate disbursal of Non-NET Fellowship to MU research scholars
Source: The Sangai Express

Imphal, May 31 2019: North-East Forum for International Solidarity (NEFIS) submitted a memorandum to Chairperson, University Grants Commission (UGC) today, regarding the non-disbursal of Non-NET fellowships to research scholars enrolled at Manipur University.

NEFIS, in its statement, stated that fellowships were instituted to be granted to all the research scholars i.e., those enrolled in MPhil and PhD courses at the Central Universities across the country.

However, in MU, the scholars are being denied the fellowship, the amount for which has not been released since 2017.Many anomalies concerning the Non-NET fellowship are present in MU, since it has not published any regulations/guidelines regarding it, the statement added.

Fellowhips are disbursed according to the date of registration of the candidate at all the central universities across the country.

However, the already registered scholars in MU are considered eligible for the fellowship only after they complete the coursework, it stated.

The scholars who have just enrolled are made to undergo a pre-PhD course, without which they are considered as ineligible for the fellowship.

This system, it should be known, is not followed in the other central universities and it arbitrarily penalizes the research scholars of MU, NEFIS remarked.

Concerning the exclusion of students as recipients of Non-NET fellowship in MU, who are being supervised by college teachers, NEFIS maintained that all the research scholars enrolled at respective departments of the central universities are entitled to receive Non-NET fellowships.

The research scholars are made to conduct their research in the absence of any fund, which negatively affects their work, it said and added that many research scholars (especially a large number coming from socio-economically weaker sections), in the absence of any fellowship, are compelled to cancel their admission.

In the memorandum submitted to the UGC, NEFIS demanded that the pending fellowships of PhD research scholars at MU should be immediately released and the disbursal of fellowship should commence from the date of admission of research scholars at the respective departments.

Also, the arbitrary rule of not granting Non-NET fellowships to research scholars which are being supervised by college teachers should be immediately scrapped and there should be parity among all the research scholars enrolled at the university.

NEFIS also demanded that Manipur University should be directed to publish regulations/guidelines governing the disbursal of Non-NET fellowships, similar to that published by the other central universities.

It warned to scale up its campaign against victimization of research scholars if its demands are not met immediately.

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