“The neglect of India’s researchers during the pandemic: Inside the lives of JNU’s research scholars,” authored by R Alamu, Yangchen Roy, and Somashree Das is based on a survey on the lives of research scholars amid the pandemic lockdown. The survey had 530 scholars responding, of whom around 80% of the respondents are pursuing PhD in JNU; 18.5% are pursuing their M Phil in the university; and 1.5% respondents are doing their MTech in JNU. Of the total number of respondents, women constituted around 58% and men constituted around 41%.
“The survey covered a diverse share of participants ranging across 25 States and five Union Territories, apart from 1.5% of international students. The three highest representations of participants are from Uttar Pradesh, West Bengal and Bihar comprising 44.5 % of the total share,” the report added.
Inaccessibility to reference materials
Two of the major issues that the report has thrown light on in the survey is that there are not sufficient resources available for scholars to continue their research work in pursuit of their degree. “Before it closed, the largest share of JNU’s research scholars (79.3%) used to reside in the accommodation provided by the university. After the university closed, the highest share of scholars (61.6%) were those who had moved back home. Such was the sudden and abrupt nature of the university’s closure that nearly 4 out of 5 (78.1%) research scholars could not carry adequate research related resources (books, photocopies, readings, notes) from their hostels, library lockers and laboratories back home with them,” the report pointed out.
The lack of consistent internet connection and electricity supply in their hometowns have only made things more difficult for these scholars, the report stated. Not to mention the lack of availability of learning materials on the internet for the scholars to work on their study.
“The survey reveals the appalling state of the availability of required research material online, including that of the JNU e-library. 89% find none or only few of the material relevant to their research in the JNU e-library. As one third year PhD scholar urged, “Increase the subscription to a number of journals and books in particular…Provide access to previous theses and dissertations online which is now limited to campus Wi-Fi only,” the report said.
Financial strain on students
The other major aspect is the financial strain on the scholars who have not received their stipends from various sources during the pandemic, which has made them struggle to make their ends meet.
“While JNU research scholars’ fellowships are not known to be disbursed regularly as a salary, with around three-fourth (77.7% former fellows and 70.5% current fellows) having got fellowships erratically in bulk before the pandemic as well, things have worsened since the onset of the pandemic. In June-July 2020, most current fellowship holders from JNU (64.7%), had last received their fellowship more than three months ago. In fact, a majority of current fellows (66.2%) had not received any money since the pandemic began, indicating a significant discontinuity, in the disbursal of fellowships,” the report pointed out.
Adding that the Direct Benefit Transfer (DBT) scheme introduced by the government of India to pay the scholars directly is not beneficial, the report went on to say, “However, what is also noteworthy is that nearly half of the JRF scholars had received their fellowships no sooner than three months ago and are thus not benefitting from the DBT scheme, which was introduced with the sole aim of automating and regularising fellowship disbursal. During a pandemic, when people are more vulnerable financially than ever, with the potential loss of family incomes and emergency medical expenses right around the corner, research scholars are left without their livelihood.”
Decline in work efficiency
The report further pointed out many factors that affect the work of research scholars due to the pandemic. Inability to conduct fieldwork, lack of reference materials, non-conducive environment at their own homes etc led to the scholars being left in the lurch.
“Our survey clearly shows that online research is a myth. With little to no digital content available, and no vaccine being found, fieldwork cannot take place. UGC and university rules should be amended to adapt to the given situation to ensure that there are no dropouts,” the paper said. It adds that provisions must also be made to help the scholars make changes in the research topic proposed initially to accommodate the constraints arising out of the pandemic situation.
“Research scholars were of the opinion that given the ongoing nature of the pandemic, and therefore a continuing difficulty in doing fieldwork, a flexible approach was needed. When asked if they think they may need to change the title of their thesis or modify its scope, considering the ongoing pandemic, about one-third (32.5%) said that they may require to change one of these two,” as per the report.
Talking about the decline in work efficiency among the scholars as they are stuck at their homes during the pandemic, around 94.5% of the respondents said that their work efficiency has gone down since the lockdown. Of this, 53.2% respondents said that they were able to work intermittently and 41.3% of the respondents said that they have not been able to work at all.
Pointing out to the general dismal state of mental health among research scholars during the pandemic, the paper also suggested that the university set up counselling services for its scholars.
Source: TheNewsMinute.com