AIRSA flags 'arbitrary termination’ of CSIR fellowships; SGPGIMS blames portal delay for SRF lapse

The All India Research Scholars Association (AIRSA) has raised a serious concern over “arbitrary termination” of fellowship of scholars despite qualifying CSIR-JRF, and often without prior communication to the host institution. Abrupt cancellation of fellowship without prior information is “mental harassment of India’s young researchers”.

In a letter dated September 29, the Sanjay Gandhi Postgraduate Institute of Medical Sciences (SGPGIMS), Lucknow, wrote to the Human Resource Development Group (HRDG) of the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) flagging the cancellation of the fifth-year SRF fellowship due to delay caused by CSIR’s official portal.

The institute wrote the letter to CSIR on behalf of Madhuri Singh, a fifth-year Senior Research Fellow (SRF) in the Department of Microbiology, whose fellowship was terminated on August 31, citing non-submission of her Annual Progress Report (APR).

However, Singh had completed and signed the APR on August 8 with her supervisor’s endorsement, well ahead of the deadline, the institute said. The upload could not be completed because the institute did not receive “Maker login credential” for the new Financial Management System (FMS) portal from CSIR on time, the letter read.

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Delay caused due to CSIR portal

During the submission period, the Maker had retired, and the credentials for the newly appointed Maker were issued by CSIR only after the submission window closed on September 19, it stated. This delay also affected the processing of applications.

“The lapse occurred solely due to the delay in issuance of portal credentials, and not due to any default on the part of the fellow. Since Ms. Singh had fulfilled her academic obligations in time, termination of her fellowship in these circumstances appears procedurally harsh and contrary to the spirit of CSIR guidelines,” the institute said.

It further requested CSIR to reinstate Singh’s fellowship with continuity of tenure and benefits, and to expedite the processing of her supervisor change application.

This is not an isolated case, AIRSA said in its X post: “After qualifying CSIR-JRF, many scholars face arbitrary fellowship termination — often without any communication to PI or Institution. This is not just negligence; it’s mental harassment of India’s young researchers.”