NEFIS submits memorandum to UGC on issue of non-disbursal of non-net fellowships at MU
Source: IT News

Imphal, June 03 2019: North-East Forum for International Solidarity (NEFIS) had submitted a memorandum to the Chairperson, University Grants Commission (UGC) regarding the very urgent issue of non-disbursal of Non-NET fellowships to the research scholars enrolled at Manipur University.

These fellowships were instituted to be granted to all the research scholars i.e those enrolled in M.Phil and Ph.D courses at the Central Universities across the country.

But, at Manipur University the scholars are being denied the fellowship, the amount for which has not been released since 2017 .

A statement of the Forum said that many anomalies concerning the Non-NET fellowship abound at MU, especially since it has not published any regulations/guidelines regarding it.

There is a gross anomaly as far as Non-NET fellowships at MU are concerned.

At all the central universities across the country, the fellowships are disbursed according to the date of registration of the candidate.

However, at MU already registered scholars are considered eligible for the fellowship only after they have completed the coursework.

The scholars who have just enrolled are made to undergo a pre-Ph.D 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.

Another issue related to the matter is the exclusion of those students as recipients of Non-NET fellowship, who are being supervised by college teachers, it added.

"In all the other universities all the research scholars enrolled at respective departments of the central universities are entitled to receive Non-NET fellowships, but it is not so at MU.

Clearly, in the absence of regulations/guidelines governing the grant of Non-NET fellowships, such arbitrariness is bound to creep in", NEFIS said.

It added that the research scholars are made to conduct their research in the absence of any fund, which negatively affects their work.

More importantly, many research scholars, especially a large number coming from socio-economically weaker sections, in the absence of any fellowship, are forced to get their admission cancelled.

The unjustified and arbitrary rules, therefore, serve to victimize the research scholars at MU.

In the memorandum submitted to the UGC, NEFIS demanded that the pending Non-NET fellowships of Ph.D research scholars at Manipur University should be immediately released and the disbursal of fellowship should commence from the date of admission of research scholars at the respective departments, rather than the arbitrary and unjustified rule of staring it after coursework.

Also, the arbitrary rule of not granting Non-NET fellowships to research scholars 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.

NEFIS would be scaling up its campaign against victimization of research scholars in the coming days, if its demands are not met immediately.

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