The Ministry of Social Justice & Empowerment highlighted the case of Ms. Sangeeta Das, a 34-year-old Scheduled Caste scholar, as an example of how the National Fellowship for Scheduled Caste (NFSC) scheme supports higher education and research. Das pursued her Ph.D. after completing B.Tech and M.Tech degrees, facing significant academic, technical, and personal challenges including research pressure, experimental failures, publication deadlines, financial limitations, and work-life balance issues.
Her personal circumstances were particularly challenging as her father, a retired teacher, suffered from dementia requiring constant care, and she had a newborn baby when selected for the NFSC scheme. The fellowship support began on 30 November 2020 and provided ₹31,000 per month in financial assistance, which enabled her to continue research without major financial stress while managing family responsibilities.
Das successfully completed her Ph.D. and is currently working as a Project Associate II under the Chips to Startup Programme at the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY). She aspires to pursue post-doctoral research abroad to enhance her expertise in semiconductor and chip design technologies and aims to work in a reputed multinational company in the field of chip design and VLSI technology.