JNU releases Meher’s fellowship amount

The issue of Jawaharlal Nehru University’s PhD student Madan Meher’s  fellowship amount not being extended seems to be resolved as of now. In the latest development, JNU administration has agreed to release the amount after certain adjustments. 

The amount that was taken by Madan  as an advance for an academic trip to Brussels but was spent on the medical treatment of his grandmother will now be adjusted.

In a letter by Madan Meher to the Dean of School of International Studies shared by JNU administration, Meher expressed his gratefulness to the institute and asked whether, owing to his financial condition, the amount of Non-NET fellowship from the period of January 2, 2008,  to December 31, 2009, may be adjusted as a special case.

Meher also requested for adjustment of the amount drawn by him in advance to the trip to Brussels. 

Meher is a PhD student at the Centre for International Politics, Organisation and Disarmament (CIPOD) under School of International Studies.

This issue came into prominence after he, in his letter to the Vice-Chancellor on January 22, threatened to commit suicide if his fellowship was not extended for a year.

It was alleged that owing to his Dalit background, he was facing caste discrimination. Citing an Right To Information reply, Meher claimed that no Dalit student had completed PhD from 2006. With the suicide of another Dalit student Rohith Vemula over his stoppage of fellowship grants, the case of Madan Meher was raised by the student groups within the campus.

The V-C’s office has given an assurance that the student would not face any difficulty in the submission of his PhD thesis.