Centre plans single national fellowship portal as Maulana Azad programme shuts

The central government is conceptualizing a single national fellowship portal for the betterment of research in the nation, stated Rajesh Gokhale, Secretary, Department of Biotechnology (DBT). The DBT filed this in response to a letter from Rajya Sabha MP Dr Amar Patnaik asking for an improved research environment in the country. The ministries of earth sciences and science and technology are working together to create the unified national fellowship website.

Patnaik had asked for a quicker fellowship distribution procedure for young scientists. However, because the other demands made by the Rajya Sabha MP fell outside of its purview of operation, it is unable to comply with them stated DBT.

The department of biotechnology, according to the response, is not actively involved in the adjustment of fellowships for young scientists, Junior Research Fellowship (JRF), and Senior Research Fellowship (SRF), among others. He also mentions that the Ministry of Science and Technology is updating the fellowships for the aforementioned positions.

The UGC portal includes features such as linking initiated by the scholar, monthly payment confirmation initiated by the scholar, tracking module, grievance module, and academic user onboarding. Through this portal, the UGC transfers the fellowship to designated ministries.

The University Grants Commission (UGC) is also using a bank gateway linked to the public financial management system to distribute fellowship and scholarship funds. Meanwhile, the Maulana Azad National Fellowship (MANF), a scholarship, has been discontinued.

Smriti Irani, Union Minority Affairs Minister, announced the discontinuation of the Maulana Azad National Fellowship, a scholarship for students from minority communities, beginning this academic year. The decision was made because the fellowship overlapped with other schemes, she said.

Founded in 2009, the scholarship funded MPhil and PhD programmes for students from six notified minority communities: Buddhists, Christians, Jains, Muslims, Parsis, and Sikhs.