₹12,400
unchanged since February 2015
Increase the GATE-qualified M.Tech stipend to ₹20,000 a month
India pays its GATE-qualified M.Tech scholars the same amount today that it paid them eleven years ago. Fees went up. Rent went up. Mess bills went up. The stipend did not move once.
No fee, no membership, nothing to pay. We are establishing how many people support this before we take it any further.
Why this matters
The number was set in 2015 and simply left there
On 1 February 2015 the stipend was raised from ₹8,000 to ₹12,400. That was the last time anyone touched it. Every cost a student faces has risen since — hostel charges, mess bills, lab fees, rent, transport, a laptop that can actually run simulation software. The stipend has absorbed none of it.
A month on ₹12,400 does not close
At most centrally funded institutions, hostel and mess alone take ₹5,000 to ₹7,000 — IIT Madras' own July–November 2025 circular lists ₹18,850 per semester (about ₹3,770/month) in mandatory hostel charges for M.Tech scholars, before mess, which is billed separately and varies by tender; exact totals vary by institute. Add academic costs, a phone bill, travel home twice a year, and there is nothing left — no savings, no emergency buffer, nothing to send home. Many scholars are quietly subsidised by parents who can least afford it, at an age when they expected to be contributing.
Doctoral stipends moved. Ours did not.
Junior Research Fellowships were revised to ₹37,000 in 2023 and Senior Research Fellowships to ₹42,000. M.Tech scholars — the pool those fellows are drawn from — were left out, with no stated reason. This is not a claim that PhD stipends are too high. It is a question about why one group was revised and another was skipped.
It quietly filters research by family income
A B.Tech graduate entering industry earns several times the stipend from month one — IIT Bombay's most recently reported placement season put the average B.Tech package at ₹26.45 lakh and the median at ₹20 lakh a year, roughly 13–16× the stipend; packages vary widely by institute and branch. If choosing research means choosing debt, then postgraduate technical education gradually becomes something only students with financial backing can afford. That is a loss to the country before it is a loss to any individual.
What we are asking for
- 1Revise the GATE/GPAT postgraduate stipend to ₹20,000 per month — a modest round-up from AICTE's own pending ₹18,600 proposal, and consistent with what ₹12,400 was worth in 2015.
- 2At minimum, implement AICTE's own pending ₹18,600 proposal without further delay.
- 3Introduce automatic indexation — a review every three years against CPI — so no student generation has to fight this again.
- 4Publish a public timeline for when the pending proposal will be decided.
Facts & sources
Every number here is checkable
We link the source for each claim and record the date we last verified it. If you find something wrong, tell us and we will correct it in public.
The stipend was last revised to ₹12,400 per month with effect from 1 February 2015, under MHRD order F.No.17-2/2014-TS.I.
MHRD Order, 18 February 2015 (PDF) · verified 2026-07-19
The current AICTE Post Graduate (GATE/GPAT) Scholarship remains ₹12,400 per month, for up to 24 months.
AICTE PG Scholarship Guidelines, w.e.f. 13 September 2021 (PDF) · verified 2026-07-19
AICTE has proposed a 50% increase, to approximately ₹18,600 per month. As of this date it has not been implemented.
Careers360 (reported) · verified 2026-07-19
Junior and Senior Research Fellowship rates were revised in 2023 to ₹37,000 and ₹42,000 per month respectively.
Ministry of Finance OM No. 33(14)/PFC-II/2018, 21 June 2023 · verified 2026-07-19
Adjusted for cumulative CPI inflation since February 2015 (World Bank/OECD India CPI series), ₹12,400 corresponds to ₹20,320 in 2026 terms — a cumulative rise of 63.9%.
India CPI inflation calculator, in2013dollars.com (World Bank/OECD data) · verified 2026-07-19
This is a central Government of India scheme administered by AICTE. We looked for a state-government top-up specific to this stipend and found none documented — if your state offers one, tell us and we will add it here.
AICTE PG Scholarship Guidelines (scope is central, not state) · verified 2026-07-19
Questions
Is this a petition?+
Not yet, and we are being precise about that. Right now we are establishing how many students actually support this demand, and from which institutions and States. Once that number is real and verifiable, we will make a formal representation to the Ministry of Education and AICTE — and we will publish it here on the day we send it.
Are you asking for money?+
No. Not now and not at any point in this campaign. We are asking for your name. There is no membership fee, no donation, and nothing to pay.
What happens to my information?+
It is used to establish the strength of support for this issue, and to tell you what happens next with it. We publish aggregate numbers only — totals, institution counts, State counts. We never publish individual names, emails or phone numbers. Mobile number is optional and you can leave it blank. See our Privacy page.
Why ₹20,000 and not some other number?+
Because it is roughly what ₹12,400 in 2015 is worth today after inflation. We are not asking for a raise — we are asking for the 2015 figure to be restored in real terms, and then indexed so it does not erode again. AICTE has separately proposed ₹18,600, which we would accept as an interim step.
Is this anti-government?+
No. AICTE — a government body — has already proposed increasing this stipend. We are asking the Government to act on its own recommendation. We intend to keep this factual and specific, because that is what actually gets a file moved.
I am not an M.Tech student. Can I still respond?+
Yes. B.Tech students deciding whether to sit for GATE, PhD scholars, faculty, and alumni are all affected by this and all welcome. Just pick the option that describes you.
What if I do not support this?+
Say so. The form has a No option and we count it. A number built only from people who agreed with us would not be evidence of anything, and anyone can see through it.
Who is behind this?+
Aarunya Swaraj Party. This is Aarunya Issue #003— the first in a numbered series of public issues we intend to research, document and pursue. Our contact details are on the Contact page and we answer email.
Where this stands
The whole process, in public
We publish each step as it happens — including the steps where nothing happens.
Issue published
2026-07-19Aarunya Issue #003 goes live. We begin recording how many students support the demand.
Gathering responses
Collecting responses from M.Tech scholars, GATE aspirants, faculty and alumni across India.
Publish the numbers
We publish the totals — responses, institutions and States — with our counting methodology stated openly.
Formal representation
2026-08-14With the numbers established, we submit a formal representation to the Ministry of Education and AICTE, and publish it here the day it is sent.
Follow-up and escalation
We publish any response received — and the silence, if there is none. Follow-up at 30 days, RTI on the pending AICTE proposal at 60 days.
open and share it to your friends
What people said
The responses, in full
Total Responses: 282 * Survey Coverage: 26 States and Union Territories and approximately 90 distinct institutions across India. * Primary Respondents: 84.0% (237 of 282) were M.Tech/MSR students directly affected by the current stipend policy. * Support for Stipend Revision: 99.3% (280 of 282) of respondents support increasing the GATE M.Tech stipend from ₹12,400 to ₹20,000 per month. * Campaign Participation: 89.0% (251 of 282) of respondents are willing to help with the issue by sharing it, volunteering, or spreading awareness. * Key Concerns Raised: Lack of guaranteed hostel accommodation, high accommodation costs, rising tuition and living expenses, the stipend remaining unchanged since 2015, financial dependence on families, comparison with the 2023 PhD fellowship revision, and requests for HRA or accommodation support. * Written Responses: 76 respondents provided text, of which 74 contained substantive comments and were analysed for recurring themes. * Overall Finding: Among the 282 respondents to this voluntary public survey, support for revising the GATE M.Tech stipend to ₹20,000 per month was overwhelmingly high.
Read the full responsesYour response
Add your name to the count
Takes about a minute on Google Forms. We are establishing how many people actually want this changed — before we take it to anyone.
Official posts
Where we have posted this
These open the real post on each platform. Like it, repost it, or quote it there — that reaches people this page never will.
Campaign media
Posters, videos and documents
Free to use. Print them, post them, send them on — no permission needed and no credit required.
Poster
View or downloadWho is behind this
Aarunya Issues is an initiative of Aarunya Swaraj Party, being built by students who believe that public problems deserve evidence, accountability and action.
Read the founder's noteStay connected
We are building this in public. Watch it happen.
Every issue, every representation, every response — posted as it happens. Follow Aarunya Swaraj Party and be part of the record.