As per the Union Ministry of HRD’s official notification, the Review Committee will submit its report to the Ministry by December 2015. The ministry also has directed the UGC not to implement its decision to discontinue the non-NET fellowships and continue all existing fellowships.

The students, who have been protesting since last eight days, termed the government’s notification an “eyewash” and said they will continue with their agitation till the “review” is done.

The committee has been asked to,

i) Determine the feasibility of enhancing the coverage of NET fellowships which are merit based

ii) Establish a transparent system of transfer of fellowship amounts every month to non-NET fellows

iii) Considering economic and non-economic criteria for eligibility for the fellowship

UGC had resolved to discontinue the scheme of non-National Eligibility Test (NET) fellowship, which is provided to those undertaking research in central universities across India, contending that the fellowship programme was discriminatory in nature and lacked uniformity among universities in the selection process.

Under the scheme, financial assistance was provided to students undertaking MPhil and PhD of Rs 5,000 and Rs 8,000 per month respectively. PhD students got assistance for four years and MPhil students for 18 months. They also got a contingency amount per year to help them carry out their research.

While, the Non-NET Fellowship Scheme was introduced in 2006 by the UGC. Presently, it is limited only to 50 institutions including Central Universities with Potential for Excellence.

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