HYDERABAD: It would not be wrong to say that the PhD researchers at the University of Hyderabad’s well-guarded ACHREM department were hesitant to talk in detail about the incident in which their cohort attempted suicide on Friday.
“The issues we face are too many to list. At the department, we face problems in getting a well-monitored stipend amount issued to us for our respective fellowships. If it is not a student who is pursuing PhD after clearing competitive exams, the monthly stipend is about `8,000 in such cases. The publishing of our fellowship is delayed at the whims and fancies of our respective research supervisors. If your topic is not according to (the liking of) your research guide, there’s a chance that he might ask you to change it even after three years of research,” a student representative from the department said.
In such cases, the student is supposed to start work afresh on a PhD and his years of hard work go to waste. Sometimes, the temperament and attitude of your supervisor can come as a blow to your career, this representative continued, adding “Moses, I believe, suffered these pertinent issues and got frustrated. However, I haven’t been able to talk to him after the incident as his mobile has remained switched off since Friday night.”
Agreeing that these issues exist in the department, another student at ACHREM, a close friend of the former and who does not want to be named, said that Moses came close to take such a step because he was unable to perform as expected of him by his supervisor.
There were a few more at the department who were unable to deny the issues reported by their co-researchers but did not come forward to talk in detail for fear of running afoul of the administration. They refrained from opening up on Friday’s incident.