PhD students seeking tenure extension call off protest in Pune, mull going to court

“We have held six protests outside BARTI demanding fellowship for five years, but our demand remains unheard of. All 214 of us have completed three-year tenure; we demand that our period be extended by two more years. This is as per the guidelines issued by the University Grants Commission (UGC),” said Siddhanta Gade, one of the protesting students.

“We withdrew our protest two days ago as the state government had told BARTI that our demand had been rejected. We are thinking of filing a writ petition in the high court. We will also soon renew our protest outside BARTI.”

Gade said the UGC issued the guidelines regarding awarding five-year fellowships in 2012. “BARTI is run as per the guidelines of the UGC. BARTI, however, gives fellowships only for three years. Only for the 2013 batch, it awarded five-year fellowships. This went on till 2018.”

Gade said 214 students received letters from BARTI on awarding fellowships from June 30, 2020. “BARTI had given an advertisement for a three-year fellowship in 2018. However, in 2019, they changed it to five years. Even then, we were awarded three-year fellowships in 2020. BARTI is an autonomous body. It can decide on its own by extending our tenure. We are telling BARTI to put the onus on the state government. We request that they give us a letter stating that the 214 students are eligible for a five-year fellowship as per the UGC norms, but they refuse to give us the letter. Or we are also requesting them to give a letter that these students are not eligible as per the UGC norms…they are refusing to give us even that letter… We want to know whether BARTI is run as per the UGC guidelines or not,” he said.

According to another researcher Pratibha Manavar, authorities refuse to own the right to make a final decision. “BARTI, being an autonomous body, the decision lies with the director general, who transfers it to the special assistance department. Despite being an autonomous body, BARTI refuses to take the decision.”

The students said they met several authorities, including Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde, Higher Education Minister Chandrakant Pati and Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) chief Sharad, but nothing happened so far.

Another research student Praful Kamble said, “In a recent meeting of the board of governors, the student’s issue was raised, but a decision was not taken.”

BARTI director general Sunil Ware said, “Guidelines from the government are binding on the BARTI. The ministry’s refusal to accept the demand is final.”

Head of Department Snehal Bhosale said, “The demands are unjustified. The award letter clearly stated the tenure. BARTI is an autonomous body and implementing five-year tenure for the 2019 batch is a decision of the board of governors.”