By Twocircles.net Staff Reporter
On Facebook, a closed group with almost 13,000 members has been seeing a lot of activity off late. The members discuss a variety of subjects, but ‘fellowship’ is the key word that highlights almost all the important topics of discussion here. The group is called UGC Fellowship Forum, and thanks to social media, the UGC scholars of the country have at least a platform to share, discuss, and confide about the problems that they are facing. That the group exists is itself an indication of how tough the research scholars in the country have been finding it to sustain and continue their research work.
On May 2, a team of UGC scholars met the Personal Secretary of Najma Heptullah, the Minister of Minority Affairs, to inform about how a number of students had not received their fellowships since October, and that even when it did arrive, there had been a massive delay. Like always, the response was straight out of pages from Diplomacy 101. They were told that funds would be disbursed within 72 hours and that the Ministry is taking all necessary steps to ensure the students receive their due allocation.
This sounds nice, but the students are only too aware of the fact that this was exactly what was said earlier too. As Abu Saleh, a member of the Facebook group said, “Even if you get fellowship this time, it will not be enough. There are serious problems in the whole process. Last October/November we got fellowships after months of struggle and visiting UGC, some ministries. Again now we are fighting from months and visited the Ministry of Minority Affairs twice….I don’t know why their sanctioned funds are getting over, why the ministries are not releasing funds in advance. We have to seek a permanent solution for all these.”
Saleh is right when he says that there is a need for a permanent solution to this issue, because the issue has remained the biggest worry for the research scholars, especially for students who depend on fellowship to not only survive but also send money home. When Saleh said ‘Do not punish us for choosing a career in academics’ he was not merely pointing out the lacunae in the reimbursement process but also the larger picture. Not only does this impact the quality of their research, in many cases it has led to a number of students dropping out as they are unable to sustain themselves.
The latest meeting between the PA of Heptullah and the students has come as a beacon of hope for thousands of students, but given the current circumstances, it may not be long before the students are made to take the streets again in protest. For the time being, however, they would rather get on with their research. After all, that is what their money for.