New Delhi: The Cabinet today approved the implementation of the proposal for increase in the number of Junior Research Fellowship (JRF) through the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) - University Grants Commission (UGC) National Eligibility Test (NET) in the country.

The main objective of the JRF-NET is to identify, through this national competitive examination, those talented students who could be enrolled for PhD programmes in specific science domains, across India's scientific and academic institutions and also to identify those who fulfill the eligibility criteria for employment as lecturers across various academic institutions.

The brief details of the proposal are:

- Increase in the JRF through CSIR-UGC NET by two fold over the Tenth Plan period. During the Tenth Five Year Plan a total of about 6000 young students benefited by availing CSIR-JRF through NET. In the Eleventh Plan CSIR proposes to increase the number by two fold.

- The total cost of providing fellowships for about 12000 students in the Eleventh Plan is estimated at Rs.444.34 crore.

"The proposed increase in intake of JRF-NET fellowships with the attractive remuneration would help in attracting talented youth to take up scientific research as a career and help address the issues related to shortage of scientific manpower in the country," said an official.

The biggest beneficiaries of this programme would be the University system and scientific institutions across India as they shall be able to attract bright minds for their scientific programmes/research. It will also benefit students from all over the country who are keen to take-up scientific research as a career.

The programme will be implemented by the Human Resource Development (HRD) group of the CSIR, which conducts NET across the country in 25 cities and at 125 exam centers. About 12000 students would be benefiting through JRF-NET in the Eleventh Five Year Plan.