NFSC Fellowship Funds PhD, Scholar Joins Utkal University

The Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment has set out the working of the National Fellowship for Scheduled Caste Students, known in short as NFSC, through the case of a research scholar from Narasinghpur in the Cuttack district of Odisha who finished a doctorate in Anthropology on the strength of the fellowship and now teaches at a State university.

What the fellowship is

NFSC gives financial support to eligible Scheduled Caste scholars who are pursuing advanced study and research. The Ministry runs it as a way of removing the economic barrier that keeps capable students out of research, so that a candidate can stay in a doctoral programme without having to abandon it for want of money.

The barriers before the fellowship

• Limited household resources made it hard to meet academic expenses.
• There was little academic exposure of the kind that research work demands.
• Social marginalisation narrowed access to quality higher education and to research opportunities.
• Sustaining research activity, including fieldwork, was difficult without a steady source of funds.

What the scholar received

Assistance under the National Fellowship for Scheduled Caste students began in 2017. The support consisted of a fellowship of Rs 16,000 a month, along with house rent allowance and contingency assistance. Taken together, the three components covered academic expenses, the cost of fieldwork and other research related spending. The Ministry notes that this removed much of the financial strain and allowed the scholar to concentrate on the doctorate itself.

Where the scholar is now

The scholar completed a PhD in Anthropology and is at present an Assistant Professor in the Department of Anthropology at Utkal University, Bhubaneswar, where the work involves teaching, research and the mentoring of students. The Ministry presents the case as an example of how targeted financial assistance converts into professional advancement and better economic circumstances for a family, and says it continues to support educational progress and open opportunities for Scheduled Caste students who want to take their studies further.