Students protesting against the scrapping of non-National Eligibility Test fellowships on Thursday marched to the office of the Human Resource Development ministry in New Delhi and demanded that the review committee be dissolved. HRD minister Smriti Irani met the protesters and assured them that the fellowships will not be discontinued and said the five-member panel will review the scope and criteria for the grant, reported the Press Trust of India.

However, the students demanded the panel be dissolved. Shehla Rashid, vice-president of the Jawaharlal Nehru University Students' Union said, "If the fellowships have not been discontinued, then why does the government need to review the decision?"

On October 7, the University Grants Commission had decided to discontinue the non-NET fellowship, citing a shortage of resources. After student protests erupted, the government appointed a five-member panel to review the research grants provided, while asking to continue all existing grants. Students have since held similar agitations in Kolkata, Pune, Allahabad, Madurai, Hyderabad and Varanasi.