JNU students raise issue of pending scholarship

new delhi: Students at Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) have been demanding their scholarship, amid COVID-19 with over 70 per cent still waiting for the pending scholarship.

Speaking to Millennium Post, JNU students union (JNUSU) president Aishe Ghosh said that majority of the students have not got their scholarship including herself. "I had applied for my scholarship in January, for the month of July till December. Now, I haven't received the scholarship for the previous semester and for this semester we are not able to apply because online there is no method,"

she said.

She added that their supervisors and mentors none of them are there in the university. "The problem is maximum students are back home or stranded. I am at home and still I need financial help. You can't be dependent on your parents. Our problem is how do we get the scholarship, meanwhile there is no alternative and we are suffering," said Ghosh adding that the e-offices are also not working. Ghosh receives her scholarship under Non-NET.

JNU provides different types of scholarships, which include Merit-cum-Means (MCM): This is exclusively for BA and MA students and it is funded by JNU (Rs. 2,000), Non-Net fellowship (Rs. 5,000) (UGC-funded), Junior Research Fellowship (JRF) (31,000) (UGC-funded) and Senior Research Fellowship (SRF) among others.

For example for a MCM scholarship offered to the students their mess bill is partially reimbursed by the university. Rs. 2000 is paid to students who produce income certificate of income less than Rs. 1, 44,000 per annum.

The ordeal is being faced by many students.

"Very few have received the scholarship. This includes those who were in the campus. I myself have not received the scholarship," added Ghosh.

Meanwhile, there are students who haven't received their scholarship for a year and a half now. There are many students at JNU who survive with these scholarships and were studying at the university with no other means of financial means. The students have raised their concerns with the JNU VC, UGC, and the HRD Minister seeking the release of their pending scholarships.

Millennium Post did not receive reply from the Vice-Chancellor when contacted. Meanwhile, students have also taken to social media to share the same

sentiments.

"We are trying to raise the issue everyday, four days back we did a twitter storm with it as well, but no one is paying attention, with neither the admin nor the UGC responding to us," said Ghosh.