Students from universities in Aligarh, Punjab and Haryana today joined the 'Occupy UGC' movement in the national capital to protest against the move of UGC to scrap non-NET scholarship.
As the 'Occupy UGC' protest entered its 19th Day, students from Jawaharlal Nehru University, Delhi University, Jamia Millia Islamia and Ambedkar University were joined by their counterparts from Aligarh Muslim University, Haryana Central University and Panjab University.
"We had been staging protest in Aligarh for many days and today We joined 'Occupy UGC' protesters in Delhi. We are a group of 12 students. We will continue with our protest in Aligarh," said Tatheer Fatima, a research student from AMU.
Similar protests were staged in other parts of the country, including in Kolkata, Pune, Allahabad and Varanasi.
Left-leaning All India Students Association (AISA) is now planning to go to various states and protest against UGC's move.
"We are planning to go to universities in Allahabad, Banaras, Gujarat, Haryana and other states to spread awareness on the issue and consolidate the student community," said Shehla Rashid Shora, vice-president of JNU students association and AISA member.
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, in a meeting held on October 7, citing shortage of resources.
But following protests by students, the Ministry of Human Resources and Development (HRD) had last week appointed a five-member panel to review the research grants offered by UGC. The ministry has also asked UGC to continue all existing grants.
The scheme is in place for providing financial assistance to students undertaking MPhil and PhD. They are provided Rs 5,000 and Rs 8,000 per month respectively.
However, students have rejected the government's statement and are demanding that the review criterion be changed and the fellowship amount increased.
