Sunday, May 17, 2015
Tuesday, January 20, 2015
http://www.politicalmirror.com/ugc-scholarship-direct-students-bank-accounts-students-narendra-modi-government/
UGC scholarship direct to students bank accounts; students thanks to Narendra Modi government
NEW DELHI (INDIA):According to Direct Benefit Transfer (DBT) programme, all central scholarships would be credited straight into the students’ bank accounts without any mid source.
In early this month, the University Grants Commission (UGC) has announced to provide a Scholarship named ‘Ishan Uday’ to 10,000 students.
All central scholarships would be credited straight into the students’ bank accounts under the Direct Benefit Transfer (DBT) programme, according to statement.
Under the new proposal, the UGC will transfer the scholarship amount of a student to banks, who will then verify whether the student is meeting scholarship requirements before allowing him access to the money. Banks will be paid a fee by the UGC for the service.
Narendra Modi government said that this step has been taken by the govt. to prohibit harassment and discrimination. Basically it’s a safeguard policy for students.
Under this scheme 10,000 scholarships would be provided to students from the Northeast, whose parental income is below Rs 4.5 lakh per annum and they would be provided scholarship ranging from Rs 3,500 to 5,000 per month for studying at undergraduate level in colleges and universities of the country.
The scholarships amount under the scheme range from Rs. 3,500 to Rs. 5,000 per month for studying in general degree courses, technical and professional courses including medical and para-medical courses at under graduate level in College/Universities of the country.
Students thanks to government
For this initiative, Fellowships receiving students and research scholars have thanked the Ministry of Human Resource Development (MHRD) and UGC for the launch of Direct Benefit Transfer (DBT) scheme. The issue of Direct Benefit Transfer was much expected plea of the students and researchers in universities before the new government and the Union HRD Minister.
A month ago, students representatives at Central University of Gujarat in a memorandum to the visiting Union HRD Minister urged for the introduction of “Single-Window Fellowship Disbursement System” and “direct fellowship transfer scheme” where all schemes of fellowship given by the MHRD is get directly transferred to the recipients’ account.
Now the “Forum for Hike Non-NET Fellowship” in their campaign urging for the fulfilment five points of demand including the hike in Non-NET fellowship have also wrote to the Union Minister, the Secretary (Higher Education) as well as the Chairman UGC demanding for the direct transfer of Fellowship to students’ account. Illustrating the said demand, they urged for the immediate implantation of the idea of direct transfer of fellowship/scholarship, so that the discrimination of students’ at University level in fellowship reimbursement is stopped.
In response to the demand of the students, the UGC has officially notified the launch of DBT by the MHRD. In a letter to the Vice Chancellors of all universities; the Secretary of UGC has communicated “the launch of DBT by MHRD” and has issued respective instructions to be followed by the universities to make it functional.
As per said instruction “the universities/colleges/institutions recognized by the UGC should register themselves with Public Financial Management System (PFMS) and verify the applications of the students received to enable the MHRD to disburse scholarships to the students directly into their bank accounts under its Direct Benefit Transfer (DBT) Programme.”
Padmalochan Dash- the Convener of the virtual forum for “Hike Non-NET Fellowship” who also happens to be the President of ABVP Central University of Gujarat unit has thanked the Union Minister MHRD, the Secretary Higher Education and Prof. Dr.Jaspal S. Sandhu-the Secretary UGC for the implementation of DBT.
“I am happy that the authorities at helm have taken the crux of the matter seriously, and issued the appropriate order in its spirit as desired. I expect and am confident; this will be implemented in priority by the universities with immediate effect keeping the interest and future of the students and young researchers in highest consideration, and expect that all fellowship schemes including all research fellowship scheme given by the MHRD will come under this process sooner than later”, Dash asserted.
Sunday, January 18, 2015
Thursday, January 15, 2015
The Dilemma of “NET-‘Non-NET’ Fellowship” and the misery of Research Scholars
By Padmalochan Dash
GANDHI NAGAR/GUJARAT:With due respect and necessary submission to the attention of the Union Ministry of Human Resource and Development (MHRD) and the University Grants Commission (UGC) I will keep some of the important issues of appeal associated to the ‘subject title’ of this article.
To mention that the subject of appeal is regarding: the Hike of Non-NET Fellowship and some of the important grievances inseparably attached to it. I on behalf of the larger community of the Research Scholars in the country want to keep these related grievances in the public domain in elaboration. I expect that, the concerned authorities will take these illustrations of anguishes with thoughtful contemplation and will take swift action keeping the bad-state of the thousands aggrieving research scholars of the country in benevolence.
Respected authorities must be aware of the fact that, the Union finance ministry has approved the enhancement in research fellowships (for Ph. D/M. Phil scholars), according to which these scholars have been entitled with emolument of their fellowship up to “Rupees Twenty-Eight Thousands per month” (with the provision of other additional allowances also). Accordingly, the agencies like the CSIR, the DST, the ICMR, the DAE including the MHRD have taken the initiative to implement this new hike-plan. The MHRD including the UGC have also announced to enhance the fellowship of the JRF recipients ( who get it through UGC-NET/JRF Exam) followed by the enhancement of fellowship of the beneficiaries of the other special schemes like that of RGNF, and MANF.
Wilful negligence
It is however, painful to mention that though the authorities at apex including the MHRD and the UGC while did not fail to forget and took all necessary steps in regard to the hike of various fellowships in the country, the involved authority disremembered to hike the fellowship given under the so called “UGC Non-NET fellowship scheme”. It is quite important to mention, and MHRD including the UGC must be aware of the fact, that the dependants on this fellowship are of “the majority size of the total number of research scholars in the country, and most of them are the researchers (M. Phil/Ph. D scholars) at Central Universities”. Now, such an act of wilful omission of the part of the concerned ‘system’ has put the thousands of dependant researchers in a state of acute frustration. How the MHRD and the UGC have forgotten to care for the majority size of the researchers at central universities is the prevalent question for the authorities now to answer.
The objective of Non-NET fellowship has been compromised:
As the authorities at the helm of higher academics must be aware of the fact that: the “non-NET Fellowship scheme” has been instituted as a “special scheme” to support the bright research scholars those come to pursue their research at Central Universities. These are particularly those scholars, who are: firstly, do not get a JRF (Junior Research Fellowship) or secondly, those who do not qualify to avail other special scholarship like RGNF or MANF, or thirdly, those who fail to avail fellowship from any other source.
Further, the dependant on the Non-NET Fellowship scheme do include the researchers in various fields of Social Sciences, Humanities, Arts, interdisciplinary Research as well as various branches of material and natural Sciences. Most importantly, an approximate of more than the half-size of total enrolled research scholars in all central universities are hooked on this fellowship scheme. Though the dependents on Non-NET fellowship with their socio-economic backwardness are the worst sufferers out of inflation, the UGC and the MHRD forgot to pay wilful attention to their genuine call of requirement.
The respective establishments must keep in attention that most of these scholars are from the lower-middle class and poor families with meagre socio-economic background, who are pursuing their hard-worked research at central universities across the country leaving their family and kinship too far. So far the condition of the research scholars particularly at new central universities is concerned; it has been going incessantly tough sans the wants of basic inevitabilities of survival. It is quite irony for me and being a research scholar at a new central university, I am feeling forced to mention that most of these universities that like of mine have failed to provide inhabitable hostels, affordable food, as well as necessary amenities to their researchers, so that determined research by them can be thinkable. There remains hardly any doubt, that such scenarios-out-of-negligence are putting these scholars in intense trouble, resulting into severe compromising in standard researching, while seriously compromising the future of these bright researchers the country can hardly afford to produce.
The future of young Researchers has been put at stake:
Youngsters come to do research and spend their youth-time living harder life, keeping behind the long-awaiting expectation of their age-old parents and the aggrieving family members. Elaborately speaking, these research scholars devote about 5-6 years in researching, sacrificing a key part of their life including a good earning also. The conditions of some of the scholars are up to the extent is shoddier that they keep themselves half-fed so as to manage a size of their tiny-fellowship amount for sending-as-support to their aggrieving families and old parentages. What more the government at Centre, the MHRD and the UGC want to listen to?
Nevertheless, the genuineness of the mentioned difficulties of these scholars remains a non-issue and unimportant! What I find that the attitude of the government towards the grievances of the involved scholars has been discouraging so far, so also towards the new-comers into the research field. This attitude seems to be step-motherly, and can no way attract the brilliant human resources to pursue research for the progress and development of the country.
State must value and respect the sacrifice of the researchers:
If the Indian state and its government envision country’s progress to stand on the pillars of socio-scientific explorations, it needs to value and respect the sacrifice of the researchers and must care to afford towards their sustainable persistence and comfortable survival.
If India lives in villages, it is obvious that its brilliant human resource pool is living in villages. It is equally obvious that these youngsters do not belong to rich families, rather belong to middle class and low-income families. This fact has to be the rudimentary and then to be the well-assumed fact for the MHRD and the UGC to reconcile when making any policy which affects these scholars in a so serious way, as have been illustrated so far.
When it is desired to advance in research field in competition with other advance countries in the same, it is these scholars who are largely causative towards succeeding towards such a goal line. Further, when the country canvases the statistics of its advancement in the research field, does it exclude from it the yield of these hard-suffering research scholars? To what extent these scholars can afford to contribute the research pool of the country with their empty-stomach and empty bank-account? How can the policy of providing lucrative fellowship amount to a section of researchers will serve the real purpose, unless the government seriously take necessary steps to feed all the bright research scholars working hard at national institutions?
I strongly feel that the government (particularly the MHRD and the UGC) need to care for all research scholars (and not a section among them) who are working at premier national institutions particularly at central universities. But, this issue has never been taken and debated seriously. It is quite unfortunate that even a section of the student leadership who demanded for the hike fellowship, never cared to underline the genuine demand of this section of research scholars which constitute the majority among the total working in different institutions, universities or institutions of national importance across the country.
The Dilemma of NET – Non-NET and assessment of fellowship amount attached to this dilemma:
As already mentioned above, the ‘Non-NET fellowship’ in fact is a scheme for those who fail to avail fellowships from other available sources. This scheme has nothing to do in-totality with NET qualification. As per my explanation goes, the term ‘Non-NET’ while does not sound rational, it is also discouraging and disrespecting. It is more disrespecting for the research scholars like me who do already have a NET qualification. I also feel it cogent to further explain that the term “Non-NET Fellowship” itself is incongruous and self-contradictory, as much of this fellowship holders have qualified UGC-NET though could not match their score to the CUT-OFF Level or have cross the defined age limits to qualify for a JRF. While, it seems to be responsibility of the MHRD and the UGC to provide fellowship to all the NET qualified doing their researches, but in contrast, the irrational, unscientific and discriminatory formula of CUT-OFF have kept the majority of the researchers deprived of their right of equality of access to national resources so as to pursue their research amicably and successfully.
Why should it be disrespectfully called as Non-NET fellowship?
It is strongly felt by the involved young research community that the tag-line “non-NET fellowship” is undervaluing for them. Possibly, this is the very tag-line for which, the non-NET fellowship recipients are always kept out of consideration and seem to be treated as second class researchers (so far the amount and award of fellowship is concerned). The scholars who are pursuing their research at Central Universities are admitted through Nation-wide-held rigorous competitive entrance tests followed interviews. Treating these scholars as second class researchers (in terms of the fellowship amount and calling it non-NET) is highly discoursing. This is also discouraging for the enhancement of higher education and research in the country in long-run.
At any national academic institutions, the ability of a researcher and an award of a fellowship should not be evaluated on the basis of his/her NET performance only. Secondly, it will be quite ideal, if the central universities follow the similar pattern in totality what the IITs or IIMs are. The important question is that: should a young researcher in the county be treated so, if he/she failed to score a certain cut-off level at NET examination? It must be accredited that, the scholars who enter into the different national institutes like IITs, IIMs go through “rigorous methods of entrance”; also, the similar “rigorous methods of entrance” is undertaken by the Central Universities for their intakes (scholars).
Now what I argue that, in institutions like IITs and IIMs, those who fail to avail a JRF or a similar fellowship, do also provided a fellowship by these institutions themselves. But, such a fellowship is usually called to be “institutional fellowship”, and not “non-NET or non-JRF fellowship”, besides the figure of this institutional fellowship match near to the figure of a JRF disbursement. Then, why not the UGC or MHRD can dutifully follow the similar pattern in the case of the researchers at Central Universities; and, why not they can rechristen the term “non-NET” fellowship to be “Institutional Fellowship” also?
The objective of NET is unclear and irrational:
NET has often been criticised to be single tool of examining/screening scholars for dual purposes. First it is conducted as an eligibility certification enabling one to apply for a post of Asst. Professor in the institutions of higher education; and second, it is conducted for award of research fellowship to few numbers among a huge pool of researchers. The screening process is done in such a way that the certain percent of students at the highest score are awarded JRF, while the students with comparatively lower score are awarded with NET. If this condition is taken for granted, then the question of rationality strikes: “if someone does not qualify to be a good researcher (in the sense that he is not worth getting a scholarship), then how does he qualify to be an eligible person for assistant professor, who is supposed to teach, assist and guide a researcher? Alternatively if the particular scholars do qualify to be Asst. Professors, then it is obvious that he/she perfectly deserves to be an able researcher and therefore, the government must care to support him/her in all respect including an award of a good fellowship. But, this does not happen in practice.
Therefore, many of the scholars like me when cogitate on NET, find it to be irrational, contradictory and unconvincing. It is unconvincing because it does not guarantee a job to a qualifier, though it at certain scale guarantees a fellowship to the few among the all qualifiers. It is quite irrational and discriminatory because it outrightly disheartens thousands of scholars in the country who have remained seriously engaged in contributing to national progress.
Then why should NET be compulsory, minus subsidiary values?:
If the rationality of NET is in question, then for what the NET is compulsory without a subsidiary value? This is the crucial question the MHRD and the UGC have avoided to answer so far. The said authorities at apex of higher academics have been criticised by the researching community for several instances of their failure to provide fellowship to all the NET qualifiers, however they have been found to be deaf and unbending to such criticism.
Researching is not only about becoming Assistant Professors:
Though, all researchers with a NET will qualify to apply for or become an Asst. Professor, but all researchers do not need to, or will not prefer to become an Asst. Professor. All researchers will not prefer to become a part of the trend of researching in India which is often criticised to be “the continuation of the cycle of production and reproduction of researchers, research papers and research degree holders”. Now the young researchers seriously want that their hard-pursued knowledge and research are essentially linked to the advancement of social progress and nation building. They want that, they are made the intricate part in national governance as well as country’s socio-scientific advancement. So, if all the researchers do not engross in their research only to be Assistant Professors, then, why does a researcher need to qualify the National Eligibility (NET) test for Asst. Professorship, and which only promise a scholarship to few out of large? NET is not the ‘apt means of assessment’ of a researcher’s ability and interest:
There are many set of arguments which substantiate that “why NET is not the apt means to assess the ability and interest of a perspective researcher”, some of which are given followingly:
First for example, though most of the institutes exempt NET/JRF holders appearing the “entrance exams” to get an admission as research scholars in theirs, which however remain compulsory for one who has not qualified NET or do not hold a JRF. But, it has been often caustic that in many of the instances, while a NET/JRF holder fails to qualify the entrance into researching, the so-called non-NET student could qualify it very comfortably and confidently.
Secondly, many of the research scholars at Central Universities (who are only surviving on Non-NET fellowship) are pursuing multi-disciplinary or trans-disciplinary or inter-disciplinary researches, which in many cases do not match to their degrees what they qualified at their Masters or Post Graduations; or which does not match to syllabi what they appear at the NET exam. Many of the scholars are the holders of those Master Degrees which the UGC has never cared to bring into the list of UGC-NET, or put them under the allied subject to appear for the NET. In such cases, what should be the criteria for a scholar to get a fellowship that is of JRF equivalence?
So, many of the scholar argue that NET has nothing to do with a research scholar’s ability and interest to pursue a research. Therefore, NET should not be criteria for deciding the award of fellowship to few, and depriving many. NET should simply be for eligibility for Asst. Professorship/lectureship. The concerned institution or coordinated mechanism (of all national institutions/central universities) can conduct specific tests to ascertain the ability and interest of the researchers, and all researchers should be provided a good fellowship asserting their comfort means of survival and successful research outcome.
Keeping these arguments in perspective, I feel that JRF award based on NET Exam and the associated fixed gauges should not be the criteria for award of fellowship to the researchers at Central universities. So, I strongly insist that, a researcher needs to be tested only of his/her ability whether he/she is able to carry out his desired area of research ably and scientifically. So, the tests conducted by central institutions and central universities are enough to ascertain the purpose with a condition of compulsory fellowship awarded. This is what the premiere institutes must objectivise to do while taking the new researchers into.
After a brief elaboration of the above aggrieving facts and to conclude, it is important to reiterate that the UGC has been unheard of the demand and the need of thousands of Non-NET Scholarship holders for long and have often neglected their concerns. I strongly feel that If some convincing steps are not taken swiftly in the above regard, this will not only be discouraging, disrespecting for the thousands of research scholars working in Premier Institutions in this country, but also will put these huge numbers of scholars to the serious state of deficiencies and depressions. This will seriously inhibit their researching life and in ultimate will awfully affect the outcome of their hard-pursuing research. Further, this will not be a good illustration for the future researchers as well as for the country’s progress in the research fields.
Keeping these hard facts in mind, it is insisted that the concerned authorities will consider the demands of the aggrieving Non-NET fellowship recipients as early as possible. It is strongly demanded that the hike the Non-NET Fellowship at par the other research fellowships will be worked out with immediate and retrospective effect. It is also insisted that, the various allowances given to other categories of fellowship, are also provisioned for the Non-NET fellowship recipients. It is further insisted that the contingency amount attach to this fellowship is raised to a reasonable standard, and the right-time disbursement and direct-account transfer of fellowship to the research scholars’ account is outrightly ensured.
Last but not least, it is earnestly insisted that the MHRD and the UGC must seriously consider renaming the Non-NET fellowship. Suggestively, it can be renamed as “Institutional Fellowship” or “Central University Fellowship” or MHRD Fellowship, or whatever suitably possible. I expect that these suggestions must be promptly worked out keeping the dignity of the young diligent researchers at the highest consideration.
(The writer Padmalochan Dash, a Ph. D Research Scholar at School of International Studies,Central University of Gujarat, Gandhinagar, can be reached at 08866365535)
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)