They are snatching away our Non-NET Fellowships AGAIN! Fight Back!

RESIST BJP Government’s Continuing Attacks on Higher Education!

In a shocking anti-student, anti – higher education development, a government-appointed panel has recommended doing away with the Non-NET (National Eligibility Test) fellowship offered to research students at central universities.  Research scholars at central universities are eligible for the Junior Research Fellowship (JRF), Non-NET fellowship and a few other scholarships. Non-NET fellowships are Rs 8,000 a month for PhD students and Rs 5,000 a month for the M. Phil students, and according to media reports, around 30000 research scholars access this scholarship. Now the Government panel has suggested removing the Non-NET fellowship and introducing a so – called “NET-II fellowship”, which will tie all research scholarships at the central universities with securing pass marks in the NET.

So, all research scholars must clear NET exam to get a scholarship to pursue M. Phil and PhD. This is a dangerous step because:The entire structure of NET exam is terribly flawed. It is an exam for research scholars and those who want to teach in colleges/ universities, but it is based totally on objective multiple type questions. That’s’ why we see very good research scholars not being able to clear the NET exam because of its’ bizarre structure.

• As opposed to that often-central universities organize subjective type entrance test, proposal writing etc for research scholars. They can clear these entrance tests and become eligible for Non NET fellowship. Now the Government wants to stop that!

• Most importantly, because of the ridiculous structure of NET, we have seen mushrooming of coaching institutes to prepare one for objective type questions. The students from marginalized sections can’t afford these high – fee institutes. So the doors of higher education are closed for them, as they will not get any scholarship to sustain themselves. 

• All subjects do not have NET Exams. Research universities like JNU offer various multi-disciplinary research courses. Neither all of them have an MA nor a NET Exam. Courses like Science Policy, Social Medicine, North East Studies, Cinema Studies would be the worst victims of this policy shift, as these subjects do not have NET exam. Also, what happens if you have not done an M.A. in a specific subject (for example, History) and wants to pursue PhD in that subject? In research universities like JNU, students from Medicines, Engineering, natural sciences enroll in social sciences to pursue their academic interests. Students from these backgrounds will be deprived if the existing Non-NET Fellowship is scrapped.

• The departments and centers of the central universities enjoy certain autonomy in deciding their research curricula. This autonomy is instrumental for academic excellence. Repeated attempts to straitjacket through ‘one size fit for all’ policies would have a calamitous impact on this overall educational and research environment.

Why this is happening – Understand the Chronology:

• UGC first tried to cut down Non-NET fellowships in 2015. The massive Occupy UGC movement forced them to beat a retreat then.
• Soon UGC came up with the restrictive cap of ‘student-supervisor ratio’ through the 5 May 2016 UGC notification to restrict admission to M.Phil/PhD research.
• Now, they have come up again with this bizarre proposal of scrapping of Non-NET fellowships.
• It is also important to note that the UGC NET exams have been postponed twice now. The December 2020 and June 2021 sessions were supposed to be jointly held from October 6 to 11 but were later postponed to October 17. Recently, the exam was again postponed. So on one hand, it will be compulsory to clear NET to get scholarship. And on the other hand, there is no NET exam.

This brings up the question, why then should students register for Masters programs at all when opportunities ahead of Masters are being scuttled? Thus, it is clear that the government of the day has worked out an elaborate plan to systematically discourage students from pursuing higher education in the first place.

According a report by The Telegraph, a ministry official said the government was keen on reducing the expenditure on scholarships. And that is not all surprising! Govt has cut Education Spending by Rs 6,000 Crore in Budget 2021, allocation lowest in 3 years.

On behalf of AISA we demand that the Government must stop all attempts to scuttle Non-NET Fellowship and conduct NET exam immediately.