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All 3,545 research scholars who applied for fellowships under various schemes of the Maharashtra government — before it decided to put a cap on the number of beneficiaries — will get their fellowship, according to a Government Resolution (GR) issued on Thursday.
According to research scholars, this is only partial relief as the government has declared that it will give only 50 percent of the fellowship, without specifying the parameters of how the amount will be decided.
The Maharashtra government provides research fellowship of Rs 37,000 per month plus HRA to qualified candidates who applied through various schemes — Babasaheb Ambedkar Research and Training Institute (BARTI) for Scheduled Castes (SC), Mahatma Jyotiba Phule Research and Training Institute (MahaJyoti) for Other Backward Classes (OBC) Chatrapati Shahu Maharaj Research, Training and Human Development Institute (SARTHI) for the Maratha and Kunbi community.
Earlier, all qualified candidates applying through schemes would receive research fellowships. However, in October 2023, the state government declared that it will put a cap on the number of beneficiaries — 200 students under each scheme. While the decision was opposed by candidates across state, most affected were the students who had applied for fellowships before the announcement.
These were 1,453 applicants from MahaJyoti, 1,329 under SARTHI and 763 from BARTI who demanded that they should be exempted from the new regulation by considering all of them for research fellowship. In February this year, these students held a protest at Azad Maidan in Mumbai with their demand.
In the GR issued Thursday, the state government cleared the confusion stating that all these candidates will be given fellowship after verification of documents. The cap, which has been increased, will continue for those applied for fellowship after the decision was announced in October.
Sandeep Aakhade, research scholar from Mumbai, said, “This is only a partial relief as the government plans to issue only 50 per cent of the fellowship. This is unfair to all of us devoted to full-time research. The government should reconsider and provide 100 per cent fellowship.”
Research students have also complained that there is no clarity on what the government means by 50 per cent of the fellowship and what amount would be finalised.
Tanuja Pandit, a research scholar from Pune, said, “The GR states that fellowships will be issued as per the University Grants Commission (UGC) guidelines.
According to that, the fellowship should be 100 per cent. It is also important to note that amid the confusion, most of us have already spent almost two years in research without fellowship. The government should consider lost time.”
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