The Vice-Chancellor said that the Government of India has reduced fellowships.

Kuvempu University Vice-Chancellor Sharath Ananthamurthy has expressed concern over the decrease in fellowships for research scholars in universities.

Speaking at the ceremony to inaugurate the Kuvempu University Research Forum at Shankaraghatta, the university headquarters, on February 17, the Vice-Chancellor said that the Government of India has reduced fellowships. “The Government of India has something called Prime Minister’s Fellowships, which are few and of an excessive amount. Earlier, the UGC used to provide many fellowships of lower amounts, which were still better. These have all been eliminated. The SC-ST fellowships are also decreasing. We are in a grave situation,” he said.

Recalling his recent visit to Kerala, Prof. Ananthamurthy said that he was pleased to know that Kerala had asserted its federal voice. “The Kerala government, despite all the problems, has invested in higher education and research. They provide fellowships of ₹15,000 or ₹20,000 per month. They are also offering postdoctoral fellowships,” he said, noting that Karnataka students receive a lesser amount.

New ideas

Listing the objectives of the forum, the Vice-Chancellor stated that the platform was designed to encourage conversations among research scholars from different disciplines. “Many of the best research ideas have emerged over coffee or tea. At the Indian Institute of Science in Bengaluru, many would say that some of the greatest insights came from discussions at the coffee shop. Research scholars from different departments would sit and discuss their topics. Such interactions are not happening in State universities,” he remarked.

The forum, he stated, would be one such platform. “Fresh ideas and thoughts can come from youngsters. We need to allow them the freedom to think beyond what their guides are asking them to do. The guides are important and necessary; their role is to guide them along the proper path to knowledge,” he opined.

Rajendra Chenni, a retired professor of English, recalled the past efforts of the university to encourage interdisciplinary research. However, such efforts hardly received any support from the administrative setup in the State government, he stated. He also stressed the need for conversations among the disciplines and the creation of various forms of knowledge.

Sharath Chandra Rao from Tumkur University, M.S. Sriram from the Indian Institute of Management in Bengaluru, Deepa Srinivasa from the Central University of Hyderabad, and Geetha Menon, educationist and consultant at UNICEF-ROSA, spoke during the occasion.

Sharath Ananthamurthy further stated that he has received complaints from research scholars indicating that some research guides demand money from scholars to pass their progress reports.

The Vice-Chancellor said that such conduct by the guides is a criminal offence. “If I find out about this and people bring this to my notice, I will throw them out. The teaching community, custodians of high integrity and moral values, cannot engage in such behaviour,” he said, adding that such incidents damage the reputation of the university. He also noted that the issue is not solely Kuvempu University’s problem.