<p>Research scholars at the Indian Institute of Science (IISc) will be joining a nationwide protest and hunger strike on Wednesday seeking the implementation of the hike in scholarships or stipend that was announced in Oct 2014. <br /><br /></p>.<p>The protest coincides with the Prime Minster Narendra Modi’s visit to the IISc. The agitation could not have taken place at a more appropriate time for scholars in the City especially with Modi making stops at other institutes such as National Centre for Biological Sciences (NCBS) and Nimhans besides IISc as part of his City visit. According to the sources, the students of NCBS would also be joining the protest at IISc instead of holding it at their institute. <br /><br />At IISc, Modi would be visiting a few labs and interacting with select scientists, department heads as well as institute director, Prof Anurag Kumar. A meeting with students, however, will not be part of his schedule. <br /><br />“We tried for a meeting to be arranged with the prime minister, however it was refused by the authorities,” said Pankaj Jain, secretary of academic affairs of the student council, IISc. Nearly 1,000 students are expected to take part in the protest within the institute’s premises with a few sitting on hunger strike.<br /><br />“Nearly 1200 black bands have been distributed to students as a sign of our disappointment at the government’s passive attitude on the issue” said Jain.<br /><br />In October 2014, a hike of nearly 50 per cent in the scholarships was announced for research scholars by the government. But the scholars are yet to receive the stipend/scholarships promised. Another point of major grouse is the fact that there is a disparity in the dates of implementation of the hike. Research scholars, want the hike to be implemented from April 2014 as was the case in previous hikes in 2007 and 2010, and not in December, 2014 or January, 2015 as was announced by various government departments. <br /><br /></p>
<p>Research scholars at the Indian Institute of Science (IISc) will be joining a nationwide protest and hunger strike on Wednesday seeking the implementation of the hike in scholarships or stipend that was announced in Oct 2014. <br /><br /></p>.<p>The protest coincides with the Prime Minster Narendra Modi’s visit to the IISc. The agitation could not have taken place at a more appropriate time for scholars in the City especially with Modi making stops at other institutes such as National Centre for Biological Sciences (NCBS) and Nimhans besides IISc as part of his City visit. According to the sources, the students of NCBS would also be joining the protest at IISc instead of holding it at their institute. <br /><br />At IISc, Modi would be visiting a few labs and interacting with select scientists, department heads as well as institute director, Prof Anurag Kumar. A meeting with students, however, will not be part of his schedule. <br /><br />“We tried for a meeting to be arranged with the prime minister, however it was refused by the authorities,” said Pankaj Jain, secretary of academic affairs of the student council, IISc. Nearly 1,000 students are expected to take part in the protest within the institute’s premises with a few sitting on hunger strike.<br /><br />“Nearly 1200 black bands have been distributed to students as a sign of our disappointment at the government’s passive attitude on the issue” said Jain.<br /><br />In October 2014, a hike of nearly 50 per cent in the scholarships was announced for research scholars by the government. But the scholars are yet to receive the stipend/scholarships promised. Another point of major grouse is the fact that there is a disparity in the dates of implementation of the hike. Research scholars, want the hike to be implemented from April 2014 as was the case in previous hikes in 2007 and 2010, and not in December, 2014 or January, 2015 as was announced by various government departments. <br /><br /></p>
