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Public letter concerning delays in disbursement of National Fellowship for Persons with Disabilities (NFPWD) 5 August 2022 ---------- Forwarded message --------- From: NFPWDSA <[email protected]> Date: Fri, 5 Aug 2022 at 13:35 Subject: Public letter concerning delays in disbursement of National Fellowship for Persons with Disabilities To: <[email protected]>, <[email protected]>, <[email protected]>, < [email protected]>, <[email protected]>, < [email protected]>, <[email protected]>, < [email protected]>, <[email protected]>, <[email protected]>, < [email protected]>, <[email protected]>, <[email protected]>, < [email protected]>, <[email protected]>, <[email protected]>, < [email protected]> To, Dr. Virendra Kumar, Union Cabinet Minister of Social Justice & Empowerment, Government of India ([email protected]) Shri Ramdas Athawale, Minister of State for Social Justice & Empowerment, Government of India ([email protected], [email protected]) Shri A Narayanaswamy, Minister of State for Social Justice & Empowerment, Government of India ([email protected]) Km. Pratima Bhoumik, Minister of State for Social Justice & Empowerment, Government of India ( [email protected]) Ms. Anjali Bhawra, Secretary, The Department of Empowerment for Persons with Disabilities, Ministry of Social Justice & Empowerment, Government of India ([email protected]) Ms. Beena E. Chakravarty, Deputy Secretary, The Department of Empowerment for Persons with Disabilities, Ministry of Social Justice & Empowerment, Government of India ([email protected]) Prof. Mamidala Jagadesh Kumar, Chairman, University Grants Commission ([email protected]) Prof. Rajnish Jain, Secretary, University Grants Commission ([email protected]) Dr. Surendra Singh, Additional Secretary, University Grants Commission ([email protected]) Ms. Monika, Deputy Secretary, University Grants Commission ([email protected]) Mr/Ms. R.I.S. Bharadwaj, Under Secretary, University Grants Commission ([email protected]) Ms. Nirmala Sitharaman, Union Minister of Finance, Government of India ([email protected], [email protected]) Dr. T.V. Somanathan, F.S. & Secretary Expenditure, Ministry of Finance ([email protected]) Mr. L.V. Prabhakar, Managing Director & Chief Executive Officer, Canara Bank ([email protected]) This is to bring your attention to the following: 1) The University Grants Commission (UGC) issued a Notification vide F.No. 6-1/2020 (SA-III) dated 17.12.2020 inviting applications from eligible candidates for the National Fellowship for Persons with Disabilities (NFPWD) for the selection year 2020-21. It mentioned that “there are 200 slots with provision of reservation of 15% for Scheduled Castes and 7.5% for Scheduled Tribes.” According to it, the last date to apply for the same was 17.01.2021. A copy of the Notification is enclosed in Annexure-I <https://drive.google.com/file/d/1D0Rk9z-G9OzRMse0U5V2dU8O4wwyZAHX/view?usp=sharing> . 2) The UGC announced the result of the aforementioned round of NFPwD on 24.1.2022, wherein it provisionally selected 186 candidates for the fellowship. The UGC took more than a year to process the applications and release the result. A copy of the result notification is enclosed in Annexure-II. <https://drive.google.com/file/d/1UqeBE8x32sZGPObUPr4uWFvBcoiEmExY/view?usp=sharing> 3) After the announcement of the result, a lot of the selected candidates have submitted the required documents to the Canara Bank. Yet, their fellowships have not been disbursed. 4) This long delay in disbursement of fellowships has caused several issues. Scholars have reported issues of depression and helplessness. Adequate and consistent funding is a must for the pursuit of research. This delay has left many researchers unable to focus on their research work, while some are considering to drop out of their programmes. The effect of the delay in disbursement of fellowship amount is more pronounced since the scholars are barred from taking up any work as well. 50+ selected candidates enrolled at institutions across the country have raised such concerns in NFPWD Scholars Association (NFPWDSA). 5) Prolonged delays in the disbursement of fellowships are observed not only for the 2020-21 batch but also for the preceding batches (those of 2017-18 and 2018-20). 6) Such a long delay also violates the fundamental rights to equality (since the delay is much longer in NFPWD vis-a-vis other comparable fellowships) and to life with dignity (since, without the timely disbursement of NFPWD, the selected candidates cannot afford goods and services pertinent to a life with dignity) of the selected candidates. 7) It has been communicated to the members of NFPWDSA from multiple sources that the delay is currently because the “Department of Expenditure has laid down revised procedure for flow of funds under Central Sector Schemes which mandates, inter alia, designation of a Central Nodal Agency (CNA) to implement the scheme before release of any fund under the scheme” and that, “The matter is being taken up with the concerned authorities to resolve the issue at the earliest.” NFPWDSA would like to bring to the attention of the Department of Empowerment of Persons with Disabilities, that in Memorandum dated 09.03.2022 vide F.No. 1(18)/PFMS/FCD/2021, para 7.i specifically exempts DBT based schemes such as NFPWD. “7. The following categories of Central Sector Schemes will be exempted from following these guidelines and may continue in existing mode: i. Central Sector Schemes being implemented by Ministries/Departments in Direct Benefit Transfer (DBT) mode or reimbursement mode.” A copy of the memorandum is enclosed herewith in Annexure-III <https://drive.google.com/file/d/18FuAG0ZIswP1WF7vsgA-5dUwNv8jyVgb/view?usp=sharing> . In this backdrop, we urge you for immediate intervention in this matter and for immediate disbursement of NFPWD. TEAM NFPWDSA _____ NFPWD Scholars Association (NFPWDSA) is an open, voluntary organisation to collectively address issues relevant to fellows of 'National Fellowship for Persons with Disabilities (NFPWD)' UGC Central Sector Scheme. We can be emailed at [email protected] -- *_____NFPWD Scholars Association (NFPWDSA)* is an open, voluntary organisation to collectively address issues relevant to fellows of 'National Fellowship for Persons with Disabilities (NFPWD)' UGC Central Sector Scheme. We can be emailed at [email protected] -- Disclaimer: 1. Contents of the mails, factual, or otherwise, reflect the thinking of the person sending the mail and AI in no way relates itself to its veracity; 2. AI cannot be held liable for any commission/omission based on the mails sent through this mailing list.. Search for old postings at: http://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected]/ --- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "AccessIndia" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to [email protected]. 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