india

Updated: Aug 19, 2019 00:13 IST

The human resource development (HRD) ministry is considering tweaking the norms relating to the Prime Minister’s Research Fellowship (PMRF) to allow more institutions to be part of the prestigious research programme, a senior official said on the condition of anonymity.

Till now, the fellowship is being offered to students with high academic scores opting for doctoral (PhD) programmes at Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs), Indian Institutes of Science Education and Research (IISER), and the Bengaluru-based Indian Institute of Science to carry out research in “cutting-edge science and technology domains”, according to the PMRF portal.

However, over a year after the scheme was launched, the number of students qualifying for these fellowships has remained below 500.

The sanctioned strength for these fellowships was 1000 per year.

“More institutions, mainly central universities with a good track record in research in science and technology, could soon become host institutions under this prestigious scheme,” the ministry official cited above said.

A second official said the matter was discussed in a recent meeting.

“The PMRF norms for allowing students to take up these fellowships are stringent. Students who have scored high academic scores in their graduation and postgraduation and those with a GATE [Graduate Aptitude Test in Engineering] score of 750 or above are among those eligible for these fellowships,” the second official said. “The criterion can be eased but since the aim to do high-quality cutting edge research, this is not a desirable option.”

The ministry is looking at the option of allowing select central varsities to become host institutions under the scheme, the official added.

The Centre had approved the scheme in 2018-19 at a cost of Rs1,650 crore for a period of seven years.

Under this, students who have completed [in the last 5 years] or are in the final year of BTech or Integrated MTech or MSc from IISc/IITs/NITs/IISERs/IIITs, with at least 8.0 Cumulative Grade Point Average (CGPA), are eligible for full-time PhD programme at the IITs/IISc, provided they clear the written test /interview in the selection process.

The selected students are offered a fellowship of Rs70,000 per month for the first two years, Rs 75,000 per month for the 3rd year, and Rs 80,000 per month in the 4th and 5th years. Besides, a research grant of Rs 200,000 will be provided to each of the fellows for a period of 5 years to cover their foreign travel expenses for presenting research papers.

“Adding more universities, like prestigious CUs, to the existing selected base of institutions which can host PMRF is a welcome step. The entire academic merit and appropriate infrastructure is not confined only to IIITs or IISc. In my opinion the Research Fellowship of ₹70,000 to 80,000 may be slightly reduced but number of academically meritorious recipients may increase by including more host IHEs,” said Inder Mohan Kapahy, former UGC member.