NIPER was established with the objective of developing professionally qualified and skilled manpower and improve research in this field through the use of advanced technology, passing on the benefits to the common people. However, corruption and controversy gobbled up all funding meant for the training and research of top pharmacy graduates.
The University Grants Commission had increased the fellowship amount to encourage scholars to undertake research. The PG scholarship for Graduate Aptitude Test in Engineering (GATE)-qualified students was raised in December 2014. The fellowship amount was raised from Rs 8,000 to Rs 12,400 each for Masters students and from Rs 12,500 to Rs 25,000 each for PhD scholars. These fellowships are given to help scholars take care of their expenses, including those on accommodation, books and research requirements.
The revised fellowship amount has not been disbursed to NIPER students. Students had been registering their grievances to the officiating director and also held few protests against the failure of the authorities concerned to release their fellowship dues for the past 14 months.The students said their fellowship dues were not being given to them. The authorities, they claimed, owed about Rs 1.25 lakh each to some students.
NIPER officials said the NIPERs budget was slashed since 2012, affecting funding of infrastructure research and fellowships, too. However, the papers are in the contrast. Minutes of the SFC .meeting clearly says
"Secretary Pharma informed the Department will immediately release 19.50 cr......."
SFC also approved NIPER Mohali proposal of 249.455 cr.
Although ministry is releasing fund for quite some time, NIPER's corrupt officiating directors; present and past, busy in funding their own dirty trick, sources said.
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