New Delhi: On Thursday i.e. January 21, 2010, Cabinet has given its approval for the implementation of the proposal, for increase in the number of Junior Research Fellowship (JRF), through the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) - University Grants Commission (UGC) National Eligibility Test (NET) in the country.
JRF-NET is a national competitive examination, which aims to identify those talented students who could be enrolled for PhD programmes in specific science realm, across India's scientific and academic institutions. Moreover, it also helps in identifying those students, who fulfill the eligibility criteria, and are suitable for employment in the post of lecturers across various academic institutions.
Here is a brief detail of the proposal
- Increase in the JRF through CSIR-UGC NET by two fold over the Tenth Plan period. During the Tenth Five Year Plan a total of about 6000 young students benefited by availing CSIR-JRF through NET. In the Eleventh Plan CSIR proposes to increase the number by two fold.
- The total cost of providing fellowships for about 12000 students in the Eleventh Plan is estimated at Rs 444.34 crore.
- The proposed increase in intake of JRF-NET fellowships with the attractive remuneration would help in attracting talented youth to take up scientific research as a career and help address the issues related to shortage of scientific manpower in the country, said an official.
- The biggest beneficiaries of this programme would be the University system and scientific institutions across India as they shall be able to attract bright minds for their scientific programmes / research. It would also benefit students from all over the country who are keen to take-up scientific research as a career.
- The programme will be implemented by the Human Resource Development (HRD) group of the CSIR, which conducts NET across the country in 25 cities and at 125 exam centers. About 12000 students would be benefiting through JRF-NET in the Eleventh Five Year Plan.
