Ex-PhD scholar says guide stopped his fellowship over not giving bribe in TN

MADURAI: A former PhD scholar, belonging to an SC community, of Madurai Kamaraj University (MKU) has sought action against his guide, allegedly, for interfering to stop the payment of his fellowship from the University Grants Commission (UGC), as the former student had not given Rs 5 lakh bribe demanded by the guide.

In his complaint to Chief Minister M K Stalin and the authorities of MKU, S Sivasubramanian, who completed his PhD in 2022, also said his guide, A Velanganni Joseph, professor and head, Youth Welfare Studies, belongs to a caste Hindu community and had allegedly discriminated against him on many occasions.

Sivasubramanian further said though he qualified for Rajiv Gandhi National Fellowship (RGNF) for receiving a monthly fellowship of Rs 25,000 from 2015 to 2020, he received it only for two years as Joseph had allegedly sent a letter to the UGC requesting to stop the fellowship.

Speaking to TNIE, Sivasubramanian said, “While pursuing the PhD, the guide asked Rs 5 lakh, an ATM card and its pin number from me. When I denied, he, with the support of a few staff tampered with my RGNF account, and updated the not applicable status so that I will not be able to receive the fellowship from 2017 onwards. After completing my PhD, I came to know the truth when I went to UGC office in person,” he said.

Meanwhile, Joseph termed the accusations false, saying Sivasubramanian had not come to class during his PhD tenure. “I informed the office about this, following which, his scholarship was stopped. However, I helped him sent a letter to UGC, requesting for the release the pending fellowship,” he said.

Meanwhile, highly placed sources said though the varsity received the letter from the student, it is yet to start an inquiry.