Research scholars tell their stories, want to know if India really cares for them

news

Anisha Sheth | The News Minute | February 13, 2015 | 12.30 pm IST

In 2009, when he was preparing to join for a masters course, Abhinav Trivedi says he saw a news report which had a map showing the whole of Punjab like a burning red patch. He wanted to do something about it.

Twenty-six year old Trivedi, a city boy who hails from Lucknow explained: “Farmers in this belt – Punjab, Haryana, Delhi, Uttar Pradesh – have generally been wheat-growing regions but have shifted to cultivating basmati rice for export as the profits are high. After harvest, they burn the straw, and the media cover it all the time, talking about how the smoke will affect (people).”

He said that cattle in these parts are used to green fodder and not dry fodder, meaning that there was little else to be done with the straw other than to burn it. He says that he wanted to do something about it.

Three years later, he began his doctoral research in converting paddy straw into bio-fuel, but feels cheated because he feels the government does not support students like him enough.

Several thousand students pursuing higher studies in the country are facing a tough time, things getting worse as they progress higher, a sense of feeling cheated by the whole process, heightening as they continue their studies.

Many students pursuing studies at the post-graduate level and higher have been demanding that their fellowship stipends be raised in accordance with the hike proposed by the government.

The 55 percent hike was supposed to come into effect in October 2014 – already a year later than the usual three-yearly revisions in fellowship amount – but there is too much confusion as various government departments appear to be indifferent to the government notification, and seem to be in no hurry to implement the order even though four months have now passed. For instance, the Department of Science and Technology order says October 2014, but the UGC notification says the hike will be implemented from December 2014, and the MHRD notification says January 2015. Students are now planning to protest next week, hoping the government will finally listen to them.

Read: Research scholars write to PM about their woes, demand implementation hike of fellowship stipends

Speaking to The News Minute, Secretary of Academic Affairs of the Students’ Council at IISc Bangalore Pankaj Jain says students of all disciplines – humanities, commerce, and the sciences – were finding it very tough to get through their courses on fellowships that range between Rs. 16,000 and Rs. 20,000 under the present rule. Stipends for fellowships are governed by the qualification of the student when they enroll in certain courses, and are disbursed through at least 15 union ministries.

Pursuing his Ph.D. in the Molecular Biophysics Unit at IISc, Jain says: “We had conducted a survey of research students last June-July to assess the financial status of some students. Nearly 30 percent of students said that they fully supported their families financially. A similar number said that they partially supported their families. It gets more difficult if someone is married and has a child.”

Also in the same department, Anusmita Sahoo says: “At 28, it becomes difficult if you have to ask your parents for money. Its not a good thing. I don’t support my family as my father still has three years more until he retires, but I still send some money home.”

Trivedi, a PhD scholar at IIT Delhi says he feels “cheated” by the state of affairs. “For the kind of issues we face, and the work that we do, I feel cheated,” he says, acknowledging nonetheless that because he lived on campus, his living expenses were largely taken care of, except for the mess bill, which came up to around Rs 4,000.

“Doing research is my passion, that’s why Im here. But after I finished by MTech, I would have got a job that would give me a package of Rs 8 lakh. After leaving all that, I am here (doing research on a stipend) and I don’t get encouragement from the government. Our families ask us what the hell we are doing with Rs 20,000.”

Jain says that once he completes his PhD at IISc, he will try to find a post-doctoral programme abroad as there was simply no way to financially sustain oneself after this stage in India.

“India will not encourage talent, then complain about brain drain. You want to be a super power, but without education and research, how are you going to solve the country’s problems? You cant always depend on knowledge from outside.”

Trivedi says that once he has completed his studies he wants to find a job that will allow him to work with waste management and waste disposal. “Things should be transferred from the lab to the field. The field is the people.”

Tweet

Follow @anisha_wFollow

@thenewsminute