Post Doctoral Fellowship to Scheduled Caste/Scheduled Tribe Candidates

This scheme has been initiated keeping in view the social background of the candidates from the deprived section of society and to provide them an opportunity to undertake advanced studies and research in Science, Engineering & Technology, Humanities and Social Sciences in Indian Universities/Institutions/Colleges.
Objective:
The objective of the scheme is to provide an opportunity to SC/ST candidates to undertake postdoctoral research in Sciences, Engineering & Technology, Humanities and Social Sciences at Indian Universities/Institutions/Colleges as indicated below:

• Universities/Institutions/Colleges included under Section 2(f) and 12 (B) of UGC Act.
• Deemed to be Universities included under Section 3 of the UGC Act, 1956 and eligible to receive grants-in-aid from UGC.
• Universities/Institutions/Colleges funded by Central/State Government.
• Institutes of National Importance.

The financial assistance available under the scheme is as follows:

**Sl. No.ItemRate of Fellowship (Pre-revised)***Rate of Fellowship (Revised w. e. f. 01.12.2014)**1Fellowship @ ₹16,000/- per month@ ₹38,800/- per month for first 2 years & ₹46,500/- per month from third years onwards.2Contingency@₹30,000/- per annum@₹50,000/- per annum3Departmental Assistance10% of the Post Doctoral Fellowship to the host InstitutionNot applicable4Escorts/Reader/Assistance@ ₹2,000/- per month (fixed) in cases of physically disabled & blind Candidate.@ ₹2,000/- per month (fixed) in cases of physically disabled & blind Candidate.5HRAAs per University /Institution rules.As per University /Institution rules.House Rent Allowance:

1. Suitable single-seated hostel accommodation may be provided to the candidates in the institutions. In such cases, the fellow is eligible to draw only hostel fees excluding mess, electricity, water charges, etc. A certificate to this effect is to be furnished through the Registrar/Director/Principal. HRA is not permissible for those candidates who are staying in Hostel accommodation.
2. In case of non-availability of hostel accommodation, the fellow may be provided with single accommodation by the host institution. In such cases, the rent paid by the fellow on an actual basis may be reimbursed subject to the ceiling of HRA as per Govt. of India norms.
3. If the fellow makes her own arrangements of accommodation, he/she may be entitled to draw HRA as per the categorization of cities by the Govt. of India.

Medical:

No separate/fixed medical assistance is provided. However, the Post-Doctoral Fellow may avail of the medical facilities available in the University/Institution/College.

Leave:

• Leave for a maximum period of 30 days in a year in addition to public holidays may be taken by the Post-Doctoral Fellow with the approval of the Head of the Department. However, they are not entitled to any other vacations, such as summer, winter, and pooja vacations.
• Candidates are eligible for maternity/ paternity leave at full rates of the fellowship as per Government of India rules once during the tenure of the award.
• Academic leave: The fellow may be allowed to avail academic leave without fellowship and contingency for a period not exceeding one year during the tenure of the award for academic/teaching assignment/ foreign visit in connection with research work. The expenditure on travel cannot be claimed from UGC. The period of leave without fellowship will be counted towards the tenure.
  Note: All kinds of leaves shall be approved by the University/Institute/College.

Duration of Fellowship:

• The tenure of the award is five years with no provision for further extension.

Target Group: Unemployed candidates from the deprived section of the society with Ph.D. Degree awarded and aptitude for research.

1. The candidate must have a doctorate degree in the relevant subject preferably with published research work to their credit. (Provisional degree certificate may be accepted if degree is not awarded)
   1. The candidates should belong to the Scheduled Caste/Scheduled Tribe category.
2. Only Ph.D. awarded unemployed candidates will be eligible for the award of Post Doctoral Fellowship.
3. The upper age limit for male applicants is 50 years as of the last date of receipt of online applications and 55 years in the case of female candidates.
4. The candidates of SC/ST categories having 50% marks at the UG level and 55% marks at the PG level are eligible to apply under the Scheme.
5. The candidate must upload the No Objection Certificate from the proposed research place duly forwarded by the Head of Department and Registrar/Director/Principal in the online application.
6. Transgender candidates are eligible to apply under the scheme. The reservation shall be followed as per government of India norms.

Note: There shall be reservations for SC/ST/Persons with disability candidates as per provision of the Constitution and instructions issued by the Govt. of India from time to time.

Online

Procedure for applying for the scheme:

The applications are invited through online mode once in a year through advertisements in leading newspapers and Employment News from the candidates belonging to the SC/ST category fulfilling the eligibility conditions under the scheme. A short notification will also be uploaded on the UGC Website.
Note: Incomplete applications will not be placed before the Expert Committee. Candidates have to apply strictly as per instructions given in the online application portal.

Selection Procedure:

• The applications received will be scrutinized by a screening committee. Later, the short-listed candidates will be called to appear before an Expert Committee, constituted by the Commission.
• No TA/DA will be paid for appearing in the interview.
• The decision of the Commission will be final.
• The Commission reserves the right to withdraw/cancel the award without assigning any reason.
• Result shall be published on the UGC website Award letters can be downloaded from the UGC online application portal.
• The effective date of release of the fellowship shall be 1st April of the selection year or the actual date of joining the PDF whichever is later.

Joining:

The candidate should join the fellowship within 3 months from the date of issue of the Award letter, failing which the award will be treated as cancelled.

Procedure for release of the grant by the UGC:

The fellowship amount shall be disbursed through UGC designated Bank into the bank account of the awardee directly. The list of designated branches of UGC-identified banks is available on the UGC portal i.e. www.ugc.ac.in.

1. The awardee is required to approach the designated branch along with a copy of the Award Letter and Joining Report with a photograph, address, and contact number in the prescribed proforma Annexure-II. The awardee is also required to submit the following documents to the designated branch of the UGC designated Bank at the stipulated period interval. The approved Agency may verify the genuineness of records before disbursal of funds. 1. At the end of every three months the fellow shall submit a 'Continuation Certificate' in the prescribed proforma. Annexure-III. This will make the awardee eligible to draw the fellowship for the next three months. 1. After completion of one year of the award of fellowship, the concerned fellow/awardee shall submit and present its Progress Report in the proforma prescribed by the UGC as given in Annexure-IV. 1. The Fellow/awardee shall also submit and present accounts of contingency grants in the proforma prescribed by the UGC as given in Annexure-V. 1. Fellow/awardee shall submit and present its HRA Certificate in the prescribed proforma Annexure-VI.

Disbursement of fellowship (old cases/legacy cases):

• UGC has developed a dedicated web portal for capturing data for eligible scholars through which the legacy cases (Non-DBT) shall be transferred on the DBT platform.
• The Universities/ Colleges/ Institutions will submit the master data of the eligible beneficiaries on the portal with a unique user profile (user name and password).
• The bank account numbers of the beneficiaries will be validated through PFMS for the creation of beneficiary ID. The Universities/Institutions/Colleges shall update the information in the master data (regarding continuation, HRA, up-gradation, resignation, etc.) of the beneficiaries on a monthly basis. Based on the master data received from the concerned Universities/Institutions/Colleges the payment of the fellowship will be made to the beneficiaries through the DBT platform only.

Resignation:

If the fellow wishes to leave the fellowship before the end of the tenure, the information regarding relinquishment may be informed to the identified Agency under intimation to UGC. Grant will be released upto the date of relinquishment.

Transfer:

Transfer of the Research Place should be done by the University/Institution/College concerned under the intimation to UGC. Transfer of Research place will be allowed only once during the entire tenure.

Cancellation of Award: The fellowship is liable to cancellation, in the case of:

• Misconduct.
• Unsatisfactory progress of research work.
• Candidate is later found ineligible.
• Candidate is already availing scholarship/fellowship from any other sources.
• Candidate if found employed during the PDF research.
• Any false information furnished by the applicant or any fraudulent activity by the Scholar/Fellow/Research Awardees