Pending Payments Under Maulana Azad National Fellowship Released After 7 Months

The Union Ministry of Minority Affairs has released the payments pending under the Maulana Azad National Fellowship after seven months. Students have been demanding the release of stalled fellowships for a long time. Over 1,400 PhD scholars relying on the Maulana Azad National Fellowship (MANF) have been facing financial distress since January 2025.

Notably, the MANF has been discontinued since 2022 after the central government’s decision. The Union Minister of Minority Affairs, Kiren Rijiju, said in parliament that the scholarship has been terminated due to overlapping with other scholarship schemes. However, students who have been availing the fellowship prior to the government decision will continue receiveing it till their reserch is over.

Read also: Delhi University Students Hold Protest Against Fee Hike, FYUP, HEFA Loan At Campus

Scholars receive Rs 37,000 monthly as Junior Research Fellowship (JRF) for the first two years, rising to Rs 42,000 for subsequent three years as Senior Research Fellowship (SRF). Currently, 907 JRFs and 559 SRFs depend on MANF funding.

Reportedly, the fellowship budget was cut down this year by 4.9% from Rs 45.08 Cr to Rs 42.84 Cr. The transfer of nodal agency responsibility from the UGC to National Minorities Development and Finance Corporation (NMDFC) in late 2022 has introduced administrative hurdles to running the fellowship.

Read also: Minority Affairs Minister On MANF Scholarship: “Due To The Cognizant Reasons Of Overlapping…”

MANF is provided by the Ministry of Minority Affairs to six notified minority communities including Muslims, Buddhists, Christians, Jains, Parsis, and Sikhs to pursue PhD.