The Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment has shared the story of how scholarship support transformed the career of a Tamil Nadu researcher from a background of poverty into a scientist. Karnan A, a 30-year-old from Sivagangai district, received assistance under the National Fellowship for Scheduled Caste Students (NFSC) Scheme and now works as Scientist-C at the CSIR Fourth Paradigm Institute in Bengaluru. His journey illustrates how targeted financial help at critical moments can enable talented students from disadvantaged communities to pursue advanced research and build professional careers.
The Fellowship and its Impact
Karnan belongs to a Scheduled Caste community and is the first researcher in his family. His parents are seasonal farmers with irregular income. Throughout his education, from school to postgraduate studies, he worked weekends doing daily-wage labour and later took tuition classes to cover his fees and living costs. Even after clearing the National Eligibility Test for Lectureship in 2017 on his first attempt, he narrowly missed the Junior Research Fellowship cut-off and had to fund his PhD entirely through tuition income.
In September 2019, Karnan was selected for the NFSC fellowship. Between 2019 and the completion of his doctoral work, he received approximately Rs 16 lakh as fellowship support, House Rent Allowance and contingency assistance. With this financial backing, he no longer needed to work part-time jobs. His PhD thesis later received a Highly Commended distinction, and he published six research articles in international journals indexed in SCI and SCIE databases.
After his doctorate, Karnan was selected as a Postdoctoral Fellow at the Indian Institute of Science, Bengaluru, with a monthly fellowship of Rs 67,000 plus House Rent Allowance. He then joined the CSIR Fourth Paradigm Institute as Scientist-C, currently placed at Level 11 under the Seventh Pay Commission with a basic pay of Rs 69,700 per month.
What this means for you
If you come from a Scheduled Caste background and are pursuing research or higher studies in subjects where CSIR-UGC NET is offered, the NFSC Scheme provides financial support to cover your education costs. This assistance removes the pressure to work part-time while studying, allowing you to focus on academic excellence. The scheme has enabled scholars like Karnan to build secure professional careers in research institutions and science sectors while also supporting their families and communities.