In a major relief to PhD students and scholars, the Education Ministry has increased stipends for Junior Research Fellowship (JRF), Senior Research Fellowship (SRF), and Research Associates. It stated that the hike in fellowships would provide a significant boost to the research and development ecosystem. The All-India Research Scholars Association (AIRSA) had been demanding a fellowship hike for over a year.
The ministry made the announcement about the fellowship hike on Tuesday. Taking to the microblogging platform X, formerly Twitter, it said, "The monthly emoluments of researchers in Higher Education Institutes have increased, effective from January 1, 2023. This will provide a significant boost to the R&D ecosystem and facilitate researchers. The government will incur an additional expenditure of approximately Rs 725 crore."
As per the revised fellowship stipend chart, the Junior Research Fellowship (JRF) stipend has increased to Rs 37,000 from Rs 31,000, while the SRF stipend has increased from Rs 35,000 to Rs 42,000. Research Associate 1 will receive Rs 58,000, Research Associate 2 will get Rs 61,000, and Research Associate 3 will receive Rs 67,000.
Earlier, scholars had also staged protests at IIT Delhi and Jawaharlal Nehru University over their demands.
Addressing the protests by PhD students and research associates, the Department of Science and Technology (DST) in May 2023 said, "The issue of the fellowship hike is our top priority. The Department of Science and Technology (DST) and other departments are already working on it. We appeal to students to have patience. The issue will be resolved soon."
In reply to a post on X, AIRSA said, "It isn't just about patience; Indian researchers need good infrastructure for innovations. AIRSA has already mentioned all the points in our request letter, so it's also very important to discuss all the issues in person during the meeting with scholars.