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Razia Khatoon, another recipient of MANF, said: “We really hope we don't have to run anymore campaigns and there are no further delays. We should get our scholarship every month.”
The Union Ministry of Minority Affairs on Thursday announced that payments pending for seven months under Maulana Azad National Fellowship (MANF) “have been released”. The fellowship for research scholars from minority communities was not disbursed since January this year.
In December 2022, the scholarship was discontinued by the ministry but existing scholars were to be granted the fellowship till their term concluded.
MANF is a five-year fellowship provided by the Centre in the form of financial assistance to six notified minority communities – Muslims, Buddhists, Christians, Jains, Parsis and Sikhs — to pursue M Phil and PhD.
Announcing the release of the pending dues, Union Minister for Minority Affairs Kiren Rijiju posted on X: “A small step that means a lot to so many. Under PM Narendra Modi’s leadership, we remain committed to ‘Sabka Saath, Sabka Vikas, Sabka Vishwas, Sabka Prayas’. Bhagidari se Bhagyoday is not a slogan, it’s a mission.”
Last week, Rijiju in an interview to The Indian Express had said complaints from scholars of delay in disbursement of funds are being reviewed.
Scholars who were awaiting the funds for months welcomed the government’s decision. “It is good that funds have been released. The government should make sure there are no further delays and the funds are released every month,” Aazam Ali, a research scholar, told The Indian Express.
Razia Khatoon, another recipient of MANF, said: “We really hope we don’t have to run anymore campaigns and there are no further delays. We should get our scholarship every month.”
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Khatoon also sought to know if “the revised House Rent Allowance, already granted to UGC JRF-SRF scholars, be granted to MANF scholars”. It’s been a collective demand of the MANF scholars for some time.
Congress MP from Bihar Mohammad Jawed had recently written to Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman “drawing her attention” to the delay in disbursement of funds.
There are around 800 MANF scholars across India.
Asad Rehman is with the national bureau of The Indian Express and covers politics and policy focusing on religious minorities in India. A journalist for over eight years, Rehman moved to this role after covering Uttar Pradesh for five years for The Indian Express. During his time in Uttar Pradesh, he covered politics, crime, health, and human rights among other issues. He did extensive ground reports and covered the protests against the new citizenship law during which many were killed in the state. During the Covid pandemic, he did extensive ground reporting on the migration of workers from the metropolitan cities to villages in Uttar Pradesh. He has also covered some landmark litigations, including the Babri Masjid-Ram temple case and the ongoing Gyanvapi-Kashi Vishwanath temple dispute. Prior to that, he worked on The Indian Express national desk for three years where he was a copy editor. Rehman studied at La Martiniere, Lucknow and then went on to do a bachelor's degree in History from Ramjas College, Delhi University. He also has a Masters degree from the AJK Mass Communication Research Centre, Jamia Millia Islamia. ... Read More
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