OBC students’ association demands national fellowships for OBC, SC candidates

NEW DELHI: The All OBC Students’ Association (AIOBCSA) has demanded the immediate announcement of the National Fellowship for Other Backward Classes (NFOBCs) and National Fellowship for Scheduled Castes (NFSCs). The students’ association urged the Union Minister for Social Justice and Empowerment, Virendra Kumar, to direct officials to announce the fellowships.

G Kiran Kumar, national president of All India OBC Students Association (AIOBCSA) has written a letter to Kumar. In the letter, the students’ association said that the fellowships have not been announced despite the declaration of University Grants Commission National Eligibility Test (UGC NET) 2022 result.

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AIOBCSA argued that the delay in announcement of the fellowships will have a bad impact on students seeking admission in PhD programmes. “The delay in the announcement of the results will drastically impact the PhD admission process of the aspirants, as some universities are giving weightage in the interview process. The fellowship also helps PhD students to pursue research without any financial constraints,” the AIOBCSA letter read.

The students’ association further said that the regular notifications, results announcements and disbursements of fellowships are the need of the hour to intensify the research in the country. Many marginalized and poor PhD scholars are unable to pursue the research due to lack of financial support.