MP Shashi Tharoor expresses ‘disappointment’ after Centre sidesteps questions raised on UGC NET fellowships

Following a response from the Education Ministry in the Lok Sabha to questions asked by Congress MP Shashi Tharoor in Parliament’s monsoon session, he expressed disappointment and said that the data provided does not address the concerns raised.

In Tharoor’s latest post on X, he said that the Centre has “failed to address” the concerns raised by him regarding the widening gap between qualified candidates and available fellowships.

He questioned whether the government intends to revise the number junior research fellowships (JRFs) or revise the eligibility criteria to accommodate the rising number of research aspirants.

Last year in the UGC NET December session 2026, only 5,108 qualified for JRF out of 7,35,614 candidates who appeared for the exam.

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Tharoor’s question on UGC NET year-wise data

Tharoor asked the Ministry of Education to provide the number of candidates qualifying for the University Grants Commission National Eligibility Test (UGC NET), JRF’s offered, and the proportion of qualified candidates awarded JRF’s awarded since the last five years.

In response, ministry mentioned that 11,750 junior research fellowship (JRF) slots are available every year, providing only an overview of the existing UGC fellowship framework.

“Instead of furnishing the requested year-wise data on UGC-NET qualifiers and JRF awardees, it relies on a general description of the existing scheme and alternative sources of research funding,” Tharoor wrote in a post on X.

Tharoor further highlighted that he has raised the issue through Zero Hour intervention in 2023, yet the Centre has not yet offered any commitment or a timeline for its revision.

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Ministry’s reply on UGC NET fellowships

The response from Union Minister of State for Education Sukanta Majumdar stated that JRFs are awarded based on UGC NET performance , and only 6% of candidates who appear for NET qualify for assistant professor, and the UGC awards 11,750 JRF slots every year.

Tharoor also pointed out that the UGC non-NET fellowship has remained unchanged at Rs 8,000 per month since 2006, and asked whether any steps have been taken by the government to revise the fellowship structure, along with the expected timeline.

The ministry’s reply only mentioned that those pursuing PhD, special fellowships are offered for reserved category students and single girl child, and UGC provides partial support through called non-NET Fellowships. These non-NET fellowships particularly help MPhil and PhD students of North-Eastern states of the country.

Regardless, most of the questions flagged by the Congress minister were left unanswered.