IIT Bombay decides to implement fellowship hike

The Central government’s department of science and technology (DST) had in January announced a 24% to 35% increase in emoluments given under various fellowships for research in science.

More than six months after the Centre decided to hike the stipend given to research scholars, Indian Institute of Technology Bombay (IIT-B) has finally decided to implement the decision.

In an e-mail sent to post-graduation (PG) students of the institute, Prasanna Majumdar, deputy director (finance and external affairs) announced that the institute will start disbursing the revised stipend for fellowships from August. The e-mail, accessed by Hindustan TImes, also said students will subsequently get arrears for January-June later.

The Central government’s department of science and technology (DST) had in January announced a 24% to 35% increase in emoluments given under various fellowships for research in science. However, the hike was delayed at IIT-B as the officials were unsure whether the hike is applicable to teaching assistantship (TA), a category of fellowships. “Certain issues related to the revision order and follow-up had been taken up by the institute since February 2019,” read the e-mail.

IIT-B offers two types of fellowships — research assistantship (RA), where scholars take up research assignment as part of their course and TA, which requires them to teach their juniors. Bulk of the post-graduate (PG) students at IIT-B opt for TA.

Earlier this month, the MHRD issued an office memorandum (OM) clarifying that the fellowship hike is applicable to “all MHRD-funded research and development programmes (including academic programmes)”.

While welcoming the decision, the scholars who have been agitating for the hike in emoluments blamed IIT-B authorities for the delay. “There was clear negligence from the administration. They were not serious about the issue. While other IITs had already implemented the hike, IIT-B kept waiting for clarification,” said a research scholar.

Students are also anxious about the arrears. “We hope that the arrears are cleared immediately,” said the scholar.