SAMBALPUR: A research fellow of Sambalpur University allegedly threatened to die by suicide after accusing the varsity authorities of mentally harassing him by delaying the activation of his fellowship, sending the administration into a tizzy.
The PhD scholar from the department of Life Sciences sent an email to the vice-chancellor and registrar alleging prolonged mental harassment over the issue. In a video that later went viral, he claimed to have submitted complaints to various university authorities as well as Burla police and said that if anything happened to him, the university authorities should be held responsible.
Following the email, the university’s Student Grievance Redressal Committee swung into action. Committee chairperson professor Pradipta Behera invited the scholar to a meeting on Friday, during which he was assured that the issue would be resolved at the earliest.
Behera said the committee had already held one round of discussions on Wednesday and the second meeting took place on Friday. “The scholar may have sent the email out of apprehension. However, the matter was discussed in detail during today’s meeting and he has been assured that appropriate action will be taken,” he said, adding that another meeting has been scheduled for Saturday.
University sources said the scholar enrolled in the PhD programme on December 22, 2025, and qualified for the UGC-CSIR Junior Research Fellowship (JRF) on February 23. He immediately informed the head of the department through email and expected his fellowship to be activated from the date of qualifying.
However, the department allegedly declined to accept his joining as a JRF until the official fellowship certificate was issued, though such certificates usually take around two-and-a-half months to be released. He subsequently lodged a complaint with the university’s Research and Development Cell on February 26, but the process reportedly could not move forward without clearance from the department.
After receiving the fellowship certificate, the scholar submitted his joining report on May 8, which was accepted on May 18. Despite this, the fellowship was not activated. He made repeated representations and was allegedly asked on June 24 to submit another joining report.
Questioning the need for a fresh joining report after his earlier one had already been accepted, the scholar alleged that the repeated delays had caused him severe mental distress, ultimately prompting him to send the email warning of the extreme step.