Research Scholars of various universities of the State, the Institute of Physics and the IIT, Bhubaneswar have demanded that their monthly fellowship amount be increased by 80 per cent and be paid to them every month.
They on Saturday threatened that they would intensify their agitation if the demands are not met within 30 days. They informed that they have already sent a memorandum in this regard to the Union Ministry of Human Resource Development through the State Governor and Higher Education Minister.
“Two days back, the Centre revised the fellowship of Junior Research Fellows (JRFs) and Senior Research Fellows (SRFs) by between 24 per cent and 35 per cent. The decision is an insult to the research scholars,” they alleged.
Currently, the JRFs and SRFs are getting monthly fellowship of Rs 25,000 and Rs 28,000, respectively. After the proposed hike, the JRFs would get Rs 31,000 per month and the SRFs would get Rs 35,000 per month with effect from January 1, 2019 which is meagre in view of the hefty amounts they spend as hostel and accommodation fees, they pointed out.
Research Scholars including Bibhuti Bhsan Nayak of Utkal University, Sai Aparna of the Ravenshaw University, Biplab Bhatacharya of Indian Institute of Physics and Kamalakant Sethy of IIT, Bhubaneswar made the demands at a Press conference here. Among others, Bibhuti Nayak, Chandan Das, Gayadhar Mallick, Paramananda Nayak and Sudhanshu Sekhar Nayak were present.
