The Government of India introduced the scheme “Rajiv Gandhi National Fellowship (RGNF)” in the year 2012-13 in order to augment opportunities for students with disabilities. The scheme is meant for those students from the category looking to pursue research in universities or scientific institutions.
Under the scheme, students would get twin benefits. Firstly, they would be eligible for employment to lecturer posts lying vacant in a number of colleges as well as universities. The scheme would also supply them with the advantage of growing opportunities at national as well as international level of the new economic order coming up.
The scheme provides up to 200 Fellowships [Junior Research Fellows (JRF)] per year to students with disabilities. It has all universities recognized by University Grants Commission (UGC) as well as Non-Universities and is done by UGC itself on similar lines of scheme of UGC Fellowship being given to research students who wish for M.Phil. and Ph.D.
A candidate looking to apply for the scholarship should apply before the 30th June, 2015.
The Rajiv Gandhi National Fellowship for Students with Disabilities would be provided to students with disabilities and shall be covered under The Persons with Disabilities (Equal Opportunities, Protection of Rights and Full Participation) Act, 1995. Hence, a person with disability must obtain a disability certificate from the medical authority notified in order to make use of the opportunity.
If the research is satisfactory after two years of the candidate, then the tenure shall be increased by three years as Senior Research Fellowship. It would be evaluated by a three member board arranged by the university. While the amount for the fellowship shall be Rs 16,000 per month for the first two years, it would be increased to Rs 18,000 per month for the subsequent years if everything is in place. However, it would not be increased to more than five years. This scholarship would be available to those who decide to pursue it full time i.e M.Phil or Ph.D course.
Besides this, the Contingency funds (for Humanities, Social Sciences and Commerce) is Rs.10,000 per annum for the first two years and for the next three years the amount allocated is Rs.20,500 per annum. On the other hand, the Contingency fund (For Sciences and Engineering & Technology) is Rs.12,000 per annum for first two years and then Rs.25,000 per annum for next three years.
Those who are interested may go ahead and fill their personal information on the site including caste and disability certificate. After doing the same, a registration id is generated which can be utilised for generating pdf file once submission process is completed. Students would have to fill up details pertaining to Research work that includes research topic, subject etc while other details such as Other Information regarding Present Employment should also be provided. Besides this, the scholarship entails submission of some mandatory documents including:
Students who need more information may contact the UGC at the following address:
University Grants Commission
Bahadur Shah Zafar Marg, New Delhi- 110002
Website: www.ugc.ac.in
Contact no: 011-23239627