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Punjab Engineering College approves 20% hike in research fellowships
The stipend amount for junior research fellows (JRFs) was increased from ₹25,000 to ₹31,000 while the amount for senior research fellows (SRFs) was increased from ₹28,000 to ₹35,000.
The board of governors (BoG) of the Punjab Engineering College (PEC), Sector 12, approved the enhancement in fellowships by nearly 20% for research scholars (PhD students) at a meeting held on Monday.
The enhancement in the amount of fellowships was announced by the Union government in January this year and was notified by the University Grants Commission (UGC) on June 3. Around 40 students had written to PEC director Dheeraj Sanghi in the first week of June to increase the amount of fellowship as per the new norms.
The stipend amount for junior research fellows (JRFs) was increased from ₹25,000 to ₹31,000 while the amount for senior research fellows (SRFs) was increased from ₹28,000 to ₹35,000.
The students who qualify the UGC National Eligibility Test (NET) and UGC Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) are eligible for fellowships. After two years of junior research fellowship, the scholars receive the senior research fellowship. The fellowship is provided for a maximum duration of five years.
Sanghi, however, said the research scholars will not get the arrears. PEC does not get any funds from the UGC and gives the scholarships from its grant-in-aide fund, he said.
DEMAND FOR RECRUITMENT OF GUEST FACULTY APPROVED
Sanghi said the UT has allowed them to recruit guest faculty members as the strength of faculty is not adequate.
Meanwhile, PEC asked the UT for flexible cadre system for filling up teaching and non-teaching posts at the BoG meeting. Sanghi said the UT home secretary has assured all help and has asked for a proposal which the UT will then send to the ministry of human resource development (MHRD).
Under the flexible cadre system, PEC will be able to recruit faculty as per its needs. It will also be able to decide how many teachers it can recruit in one particular department. At present, these matters are decided by the government.
Sanghi said, “All central government institutes are given the power to flexibly recruit people. Government should decide the student-teacher ratio and the rest should be decided by PEC. At present, every time we have to hire people, approvals for posts are needed from the government. How can we compete with the national institutes if we don’t have the same flexibility?”
Currently, PEC has 140 regular teachers and around 20 guest faculty members, but requires at least 275 teachers.
OTHER AGENDAS
The BoG has authorised the director to take up the proposal for making PEC a centrally-funded technical institute (CFTI) with the UT. The proposal is still in the making. PEC also raised demands for infrastructure and funds with the UT administration.
