Amid unrelenting protests by students against the scrapping of the non-NET fellowship by the University Grants Commission, the government today appointed a five-member panel to review the research grants offered by UGC which has been asked to continue all existing grants.
The government reiterated that it has directed the UGC not to implement the decision to discontinue the non-NET 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.
"In order to encourage and expand quality research in diverse fields, the Central Government has constituted a five-member review committee to go into the issues related to the research fellowships provided by UGC. The panel will submit its report to the HRD Ministry by December, 2015," an official notification said.
"The Central Government has directed the UGC not to implement the Commission's decision to discontinue the non-NET fellowships and continue all existing fellowships," it added.
The committee has been asked to: determine the feasibility of enhancing the coverage of NET fellowships which are merit based, establish a transparent system of transfer of fellowship amounts every month to non-NET fellows, considering economic and non-economic criteria for eligibility for the fellowship, among others.
