New Delhi: Now, clearing National Eligibility Test (NET) is made compulsory for SCs too. The government has issued revised guidelines of the scheme “National Fellowship to Schedule Caste students to pursue M.Phil and Ph.D. programmes”. As per the guidelines, SC students also need to clear NET to receive fellowship while pursuing M.Phil and PhD programmes.
According to the report published in The Wire, earlier, the test was not compulsory for SC students. Reacting on the guidelines, Mr. Udit Raj, BJP Parliamentarian and Chairman of the All India Confederation of SC/ST Organizations said that it is an attempt to exclude SC students from higher education.
It is also reported that these guidelines will impact 2,000 SC scholars. Every year, out of five lakh applicants, only 30000 manage to clear NET.
It may be mentioned that JRF gets Rs. 25000 per month for two years. Since 2005, Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment is offering this fellowship to SC students who are interested in M.Phil or Ph.D. programmes.