Help us: Fulbright scholars to Rice

“The vast majority of us have experienced long delays in receiving our grants, while most still pending as of December 13, 2006. Those whose grants are pending have received no funding or accurate information that would help us to plan for the future, and many of us are without income and health insurance,” they said.

“After communicating with 2005-06 grantees, we have learned that there were very substantial delays and failures in communication last year as well,” wrote the scholars.

The United States Educational Foundation of India (USEFI) which was the Fulbright Commission in India became the punching bag for these scholars, not realising that the fault lied entirely with the Indian government.

“We have given up jobs, graduate school, fellowships and housing in order to come to India, and many of us are experiencing very adverse financial and professional consequences,” they wrote. “When we received our acceptance letters, we understood our selection to be a great honour and a prestigious career boost; for many of us, it has instead become a financially and emotionally debilitating obstacle.”

“We are writing to insist that this year’s applicants (for the 2007-08 program) be fully informed of the difficulties they are likely to face. So as partially to compensate for the sacrifices we have made, we also request that the 2006-07 grantees be awarded the dollar value of the full grant, even though many of us will not be able to complete the full period due to the excessively delayed start date,” the researchers pleaded.

Then, they narrated the sequence of events where they narrated their “chronology of experiences”:

• In April 2006, “we received acceptance letters this letter indicated that research clearance from the host country would be required, but gave absolutely no indication that such clearance might be delayed. By the time, we arrived for our initial orientation in Washington DC at the end of June, we had made substantial commitments in our personal and professional lives.”

• In June, the USEFI staff “made brief mention of the possibility that some of us might not receive clearance from the Indian government to pursue our research until a later date.”

• On October 27, “we were informed of a meeting between US Embassy officials and the appropriate Indian official, at which the Indian government had promised to process the 60 pending research clearance applications within one month.”

“Several others were informed that their applications for research approval had been rejected by the Indian government. This means that they will receive no opportunity to do their research, and of course, no funding or compensation for the sacrifices they have already made.”

“The rest of us are still waiting, many without income or health insurance. Led on by constant assurances that our research clearances may be received any day, we have been unable to take new jobs or plan out our lives. These months of limbo have also taken a psychological toll.”

“Many of us have academic and professional obligations beginning as early as June of next year, and we will no longer be able to remain in India for the allotted nine months,” they wrote. It concluded by demanding that future Fulbrighters are informed about the delays and that all of them should get the entire funding.

(Tomorrow: USEFI’s board asked HRD, Home to intervene in September, but none responded)