As Maharashtra authorities goals to considerably cut back the variety of fellowships granted to analysis students from marginalised communities within the state, college students involved have taken to protesting the transfer.
College students from different backward lessons (OBC) have been partaking in a series starvation strike at Azad Maidan for the previous 29 days, demanding a rise within the Mahatma Jyotiba Phule Analysis Fellowship (MJPRF) offered by Mahajyoti Sansthan to OBC and nomadic neighborhood college students pursuing their PhD.
In the meantime, college students from different communities are staging protests in Pune and Kolhapur. Regardless of the state awarding fellowships to 957 OBC college students in 2021 and 1,226 analysis college students in 2022, the federal government has determined to restrict the fellowship to 200 college students this yr, leaving 1,450 candidates with out assist.
“There are 412 castes in the OBC category. Many of these students are the first in their families to complete higher education. The proportion of OBCs in higher education is minimal, and in the field of research, it is negligible. Many OBC leaders are protesting against the lack of reservation for Marathas, but none of them has come to help us,” stated Saddam Mujawar, a PhD scholar informed India In the present day TV.
GOVERNMENT’S MONTHLY ALLOWANCE GONE
In June of this yr, the federal government made the choice to chop fellowships for Scheduled Caste (SC), Scheduled Tribe (ST), OBC, and Maratha college students.
“There are 1,465 OBC students who have applied for fellowships, out of which a merit list of 200 students will be released. However, these students have no other option to complete their PhD. We have taken loans and reached this far. If we had been informed earlier about the cut, we would not have registered for a PhD. As per the new education policy, the enrollment of PhD students will decrease, so it’s only a question of this year,” stated Sachin Giri, one other scholar protesting the slash in fellowships in Maharashtra.
Underneath the fellowship schemes, marginalised college students pursuing a PhD obtain a month-to-month stipend of Rs 31,000 for the primary two years and Rs 35,000 per thirty days for one more three years.
The federal government’s 4 autonomous organisations—Dr Babasaheb Ambedkar Analysis and Coaching Institute (BARTI), Tribal Analysis and Coaching Institute (TRTI), Mahatma Jyotiba Phule Analysis & Coaching Institute (MAHAJYOTI), and Chhatrapati Shahu Maharaj Analysis, Coaching and Human Improvement Institute (SARTHI)—present fellowships to SCs, STs, OBCs, and Marathas, respectively.