Students continue protest over scrapping of non-NET fellowship

New Delhi: Protests over scrapping of non- National Eligibility Test (NET) fellowship by UGC continued for the second day on Wednesday with students from different academic institutions staging protests and demanding resumption of the fellowship.

Large number of students from JNU, DU, Jamia Millia, Ambedkar University and other institutions sat on a dharna at the UGC demanding the authorities to restore the fellowships.

"Our protest and 'Occupy UGC' demonstration will continue till our demands are met and the fellowships restored," said All India Students' Association (AISA) state secretary Ashutosh Kumar.

Congress' students outfit National Students' Union of India (NSUI) too has protested doing away of the fellowship.

Condemning the move by the UGC, NSUI vice president Amrita Dhawan said, "it is another move of the Centre to commercialise and privatise education."

On the first day of the protest yesterday, scores of students from Jawaharlal Nehru University and Delhi University had staged a demonstration against the UGC's move.

The scheme of non-National Eligibility Test (NET) fellowship, which is provided to those undertaking research in central universities across India, was scrapped by UGC in its last meeting.

Under the scheme, financial assistance was provided to to students undertaking MPhil and PhD ? they were provided 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.