According to the complaining students, their fellowship stipend amounts were last revised in 2014, with an assurance that it would be reviewed every year
Research students from the Indian Institute of Technology - Bombay (IIT-B), took their protest for fellowship stipend hikes outside the institute's Powai campus on Thursday. Around 700 candidates participated in the rally that began from Hostel 12 and ended in a human chain on the pavement outside with a candle march.
These students also showed their support to the nationwide movement by research candidates seeking 80 per cent hike in fellowships. The stipend for these students, which has remained the same for the past four years, was expected to be revised in December 2018. However, neither was there a revision, nor a discussion with students' bodies demanding the hike.
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Students have already got thousands of signatures in support, following which a draft letter of demands has been sent to the Central government. After the first rally in the first half of December followed by protests with black bands, etc, research candidates decided to take their protest outside the campus to garner support.
"There is no response from the government. If it continues to ignore our issues, we will strengthen our protest," said a research student from IIT-B. The protesters include students pursuing M.Tech, M.Phil, PhD and Junior and Senior Research Fellows and Research Associates.
According to the complaining students, their fellowship stipend amounts were last revised in 2014, with an assurance that it would be reviewed every year. But there hasn't been any, and students' expenses are increasing every year.
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