OUAT students continue strike over stipend demand

Bhubaneswar: Students of Odisha University of Agriculture and Technology (OUAT) continued their hunger strike for the second day on Tuesday over the stipend demand.The PG and PhD students also submitted a letter to chief minister Mohan Charan Majhi seeking his appointment to discuss the demand.

They demanded the govt institutes a uniform monthly stipend for PG and doctoral scholars pursuing agriculture and allied sciences at OUAT.

At present, only the MVSc scholars are receiving a monthly stipend while students of other faculties engaged in equally rigorous academic and research activities remain outside its scope. This disparity has placed many scholars under considerable financial strain.Stating that several agricultural universities across the country have already implemented structured stipend schemes for PG and doctoral studies, they urged the CM that a similar provision in Odisha would significantly strengthen the research ecosystem of OUAT.