JNU says reports that university has sought recovery of non-Net fellowship are 'misleading'

NEW DELHI: The Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) Monday termed "misleading" media reports that it has sought the recovery of non-Net fellowship from research students. The university said in an official statement it disburses such fellowships to MPhil and PhD students as per University Grants Commission guidelines.

"It's clarified that some reports in the Indian media alleging that the University has sought recovery of Non-Net fellowship from research students are misleading," it said. The clarification comes after allegations by students that the varsity has started recovering non-NET fellowships from research students.

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"It is underlined that Jawaharlal Nehru University disburses Non-Net fellowship to students of MPhil/PhD programs as per guidelines prescribed by University Grants Commission," the statement said. "Junior Research Fellowship (JRF) is paid to eligible students by UGC directly to their bank accounts and the university only verifies and uploads relevant documents of such students on the UGC portal for disbursement," the statement said.

The JNU statement said that the students are eligible to avail fellowship for a maximum period of five years during MPhil and PhD. "The students are given option to avail JRF for a period of five years during the MPhil/PhD programmes, if they opt to refund the amount of Non-NET fellowship already received by them. It is also pertinent to mention that a student cannot take any employment during the period of the fellowship," the statement added.