Mamata Banerjee Writes to Javadekar on UGC Fellowships

Chief Minister of West Bengal, Mamata Banerjee has written to Union Minister of Human Resource and Development, Prakash Javadekar requesting the resumption of non-NET fellowships that were discontinued by UGC. The non-NET fellowships were applicable to M.Phil and Ph.D. students. The CM claimed that students have raised concerns over the termination of the fellowship scheme. Therefore, the state government decided to bring it to the notice of the HRD Ministry.

Mamata Banerjee carried out an interaction with the students of various varsities during a review meeting. During the meeting, the students indicated that they have been under distress due to stoppage of non-NET fellowships for Ph.D. and M.Phil scholars by the University Grants Commission or UGC.

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The CM also mentioned that most of the students were not able to pay their hostel/ mess fees. Some students are even planning to abandon their dream of pursuing research. The CM also came to know that the release of funds by UGC under NET-Junior Research Fellowships is either delayed or erratic, ultimately leading to uncertainty among the students.

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She further indicated that the centre has been laying more emphasis on research. Therefore, the government has to continue with non-NET fellowships for carrying out research activities on a large scale.

The CM also assured that she would allocate Rs. 20 crore to provide non-NET fellowships to research scholars. The research scholars will get fellowships from state government after a fair and transparent selection process.