Rohit Shishodia  
Research scholars of Delhi-AIIMS have urged the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR), Department Science and Technology (DST) and Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) to pay their fellowship which has not been paid since March 2019.

They said that non-payment of fellowship for the last three months has created financial crisis for them as they have to borrow money from their relatives to run their livelihood.

Around 400 research scholars of Delhi-AIIMS have not received their fellowship from these three institutes since March 2019. The other issue research fellows highlight is that these three institutes have not implemented revised fellowship which was hiked by the government on January 1, 2019.

Hence, they want relief on both of the issues--regular payment of fellowship and implementation of revised fellowship.

The research scholars said that other funding agencies such as Ministry of Human Resource Development has released memorandum to implement fellowship hike but ICMR, CSIR and DST are yet to initiate revised fellowship.

Mr Lal Chandra Vishwakarma, Chairman, Society of Young Scientist (SYS), Delhi-AIIMS, told DTMT: “This non-payment of fellowship for the last three months and non-implementation of revised fellowship has affected the life of research scholars and Phd scholars across India. Around 300 research scholars in Delhi-AIIMS take fellowship from ICMR and some 150 from CSIR.”

Mr Vishwakarma said that he has sent a reminder to ICMR for payment of fellowship at the earliest and implementing revised fellowship. “We researchers are still empty-handed from the ICMR. Kindly do the needful. We will highly be obliged for the same,” reads the SYS mail to DG, ICMR.