Kannada University holds protest for not getting fellowship amount

The agitation has been organised under the banner of Students Federation of India (SFI). Students also warned the varsity that they will not allow the convocation to be held on Thursday if the fellowship amounts are not released to students. They also claimed that the university has not paid the fellowship amount for the last 30 months.

A group of research students from Kannada University staged a protest on the campus for the varsity not paying fellowship amounts to them. Students who are doing their PhD have launched an indefinite agitation against the University. 

The agitation has been organised under the banner of Students Federation of India (SFI). Students also warned the varsity that they will not allow the convocation to be held on Thursday if the fellowship amounts are not released to students. They also claimed that the university has not paid the fellowship amount for the last 30 months.

“We have been fighting for payment of fellowships amount which is pending for the last 30 months. The apathetic university administration has, however, never been ready to address the issue,” State president of SFI Amaresh Kadagad told The Hindu.

“When Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai visited the university campus recently, we brought the issue to his notice and he instantly agreed to release INR 25 crore from the Kalyana Karnataka Region Development Board (KKRDB) using his discretionary power and also released the amount subsequently. Yet, the university authorities are not paying dues to PhD students,” he said.

“When students intensified their struggle for fellowship, the Chief Minister issued a revised order categorically mentioning to use INR 11 crore for the payment of fellowships to Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes students and use the remaining amount for paying salaries to staff and other purposes. Even then, the university authorities are not ready to pay the fellowship amount to students,” he said.

“They appear to be determined to deprive the students of Dalit and other socially marginalised sections of their rightful fellowship amount. In this whole episode, we see a larger conspiracy of depriving the depressed communities of their educational opportunities and pushing them to lead a wretched life that these oppressed communities have been leading for centuries,” Kadagad said.

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