BARTI students protest against non-payment of fellowships

After failing to receive research fellowship since 2021, at least 861 reserved-category students from Dr Babasaheb Ambedkar Research and Training Institute (BARTI), Pune, have been protesting for more than a month at Mumbai’s Azad Maidan

MUMBAI: After failing to receive research fellowship since 2021, at least 861 reserved-category students from Dr Babasaheb Ambedkar Research and Training Institute (BARTI), Pune, have been protesting for more than a month at Mumbai’s Azad Maidan.

Mumbai, India - March 31, 2023: Many research students of 2021 batch from Pune's Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar Research and Training Institute (BARTI) are protesting for almost a month, demanding research fellowships for which their proposal is pending approval since then, at Azad Maidan, in Mumbai, India, on Friday, March 31, 2023. (Photo by Anshuman Poyrekar/Hindustan Times) (Anshuman Poyrekar/HT PHOTO)

A research fellowship offered by BARTI comes with a monthly stipend of ₹31,000 for the first two years and ₹35,000 for the following three years of PhD study.

Students complained that the administartion was treating them unfairly by restricting the number of students receiving the Dr Babasaheb Ambedkar National Research Fellowship (BANRF) through BARTI, which is an autonomous organisation of social justice and special assistance department, while not placing any limit to research fellowships allotted through other schemes such as Mahatma Jyotiba Phule Research and Training Institute (MAHAJYOTI) for Other Backward Class (OBC) students and Chhatrapati Shahu Maharaj Research, Training and Human Development Institute (SARTHI) for economically weaker section (EWS) students.

Kishor Tupvihire, one of the protesters and a research student from Ahmednagar, pursuing his studies at BARTI, said, “It is unfair that BARTI is restricted to only 200 candidates, but there is no such limit for other schemes like SARTHI and MAHAJYOTI. Other research fellowship schemes by the government have crossed the prescribed limit each year to include all candidates who are declared eligible, post the verification process.”

Prakash Taru, another student from Nanded, said, “At least 551 candidates were allotted research fellowships under SARTHI in 2021 which was increased to 856 candidates in 2022. MAHAJYOTI, which had a cap of 500 candidates as mentioned in their advertisement, ended up issuing a final list of 953 candidates after verification of documents.”

Ishwar Adsul, member of Research Students Action Committee, said, “We are being denied the advantages of this scheme by the administration. This is extremely reprehensible in a progressive state like Maharashtra, which is renowned for social and educational reformists like Jyoti Phule and Dr Babasaheb Ambedkar, and the social justice department itself has treated us unfairly,” he said.

“If our demands are not met, we will all go on a fast-unto-death protest,” he said.

Commissioner of social welfare department Samadhan Ingle was not available for comment despite repeated attempts.