Stipend gets the goat at IISc, IIM-B
Students kick-off nationwide connect with peers to add visibility to protest against the poor payout frozen at 2010 levels
Demand for higherstipend has gripped the institutes of academic excellence across the country. While decibel levels from students at the Bangalore-based Indian Institute of Science (IISc ) are increasing, even the Indian Institute of Management, Bangalore (IIM-B), is in the fray with students disappointed at the stipend frozen at the same levels since 2010. The demand is bringing together students from different campuses as they are connecting with each other through online chats and social networks to voice their grouses.
While junior research fellows at IISc are paid a stipend of Rs 16,000, senior research fellows can take home Rs 18,000. At IIM-B, the stipend for PhD
An IIM-B student said on condition of anonymity, “They have not hiked the stipend since 2010 and what we get barely meets our monthly needs. Since I stay in campus, I get Rs 22,000 which goes away in research work, commuting outside the campus, and my study loan. There is hardly anything left at the end of the month for me.” Rajeev Jain (name changed), who is studying an integrated course in BSMS at IISER Mohali said, “What can we do with Rs 5,000? I spend more than half of that money every month in photocopying from reference books. And some books are so expensive that with buying ruled out, a quarter of the
stipend would get spent on photocopying expenses.” During the IISc general body meeting, the students wanted answers on why the stipend/scholarship given to students at research institutes depended on pay commissions. A student who attended the meet said, “Participants said they were going to ask friends from other institutes to get involved by personally calling them and connecting with them.” Fellow programme students at IIM-B are also quite disappointed that the institute does not give accommodation to married students, unlike other IIMs. A student said, “There is no provision for accommodating married students unlike IIM-A or IIM-L.
We have to stay outside the campus and since Bangalore is expensive, the stipend we get does not suffice. I know many people who opted out of IIM-B to join other IIMs because of this.”
Demand for higher
While junior research fellows at IISc are paid a stipend of Rs 16,000, senior research fellows can take home Rs 18,000. At IIM-B, the stipend for PhD
students is Rs 22,000 for boarders and Rs 29,000 for those staying off-campus. Students at IIM-B have pointed out that this stipend has not been increased since 2010. The situation is no better at the five Indian Institutes of Science Education and Research (IISER) where PhD students get a stipend of Rs 16,000 from which Rs 3,000 is deducted every six months towards campus accommodation. Students who are doing their BS-MS get Rs 5,000 per month.
An IIM-B student said on condition of anonymity, “They have not hiked the stipend since 2010 and what we get barely meets our monthly needs. Since I stay in campus, I get Rs 22,000 which goes away in research work, commuting outside the campus, and my study loan. There is hardly anything left at the end of the month for me.” Rajeev Jain (name changed), who is studying an integrated course in BSMS at IISER Mohali said, “What can we do with Rs 5,000? I spend more than half of that money every month in photocopying from reference books. And some books are so expensive that with buying ruled out, a quarter of the
stipend would get spent on photocopying expenses.” During the IISc general body meeting, the students wanted answers on why the stipend/scholarship given to students at research institutes depended on pay commissions. A student who attended the meet said, “Participants said they were going to ask friends from other institutes to get involved by personally calling them and connecting with them.” Fellow programme students at IIM-B are also quite disappointed that the institute does not give accommodation to married students, unlike other IIMs. A student said, “There is no provision for accommodating married students unlike IIM-A or IIM-L.
We have to stay outside the campus and since Bangalore is expensive, the stipend we get does not suffice. I know many people who opted out of IIM-B to join other IIMs because of this.”
