HYDERABAD: Dalit research scholars from the State are demanding that National Fellowship for Scheduled Castes (NFSC), which has been pending for three years, be released at the earliest. The SC scholars from Osmania University (OU), University of Hyderabad (UoH) and English and Foreign Languages University (EFLU) collectively staged a day-long hunger strike in front of the Arts College at OU on Thursday.
Students said that despite multiple representations to the Union government, as well as Universities Grants Commission (UGC), the issue was not addressed, leaving them with the only option of protesting. NFSC, formerly, Rajiv Gandhi National Fellowship, accepts 2,000 students and provides `25,000 per month for a Junior Research Fellowship (JRF).
Along with the change in the name, in 2017, another criterion was added that made it mandatory for the applicants to clear UGC-NET or CSIR-NET.“This will prove detrimental for marginalised students, particularly from rural areas and those who are first-generation learners. The government is neglecting the SC students,” said D Naresh, a PhD scholar from OU and member of Dalit Students Union (DSU).