Fulbright scholars find red tapism as main hurdle in India

Kolkata, Feb 23 (UNI) It's not the cultural shock or technical insufficiency, but mostly bureaucratic red tapism that bother foreign scholers and academics in India.

This view was expressed here today by a group of Fulbright scholars, presently engaged in a number of research works in different parts of India, including Kolkata.

Participating in the annual Fulbright Memorial lecture at the American Center here this evening, several speakers made it clear that contrary to their pre-arrival briefing about the possibility of encoutering some sort of cultural shock during the stay in India, most of the scholars otherwise experienced bureaucratic red tapism -- both at the Central and state level -- as the main hurdle for smooth work.

Later speaking to UNI on the sidelines of the two-hour-long meet, first time Fulbright student and a researcher on North Indian classical music Joshua Feinburg said for reasons best known to the Indian government, his coming to India was delayed by more than six months.

Describing it as a ''very frustrating experience about the country I dream and wanted to be a part with in terms of music, '' Mr Feinburg said as a result of the unnecessary delay, his project was also to be delayed by about a year.

Also sharing near similar experince, another Fulbright scholar and a frequent visitor to India, Brian Hatcher said during initial stages of his scholarship and particularly during the time of issuing visa, he had to face a lot of trouble.

'' Though I made it clear that my research had no political implications as I teach in the department of religion in Illinois Wesleyan University, I had to give in writing my agreeing to several conditions laid down by the local authorities. I was specifically asked not to travel to the border areas and to most parts of the Northeast becasue of their closeness to international borders. '' Referring to India's advancement in communication technology which was at par with that available back in the US, the second generation Indian-American Dr Debjani Mukherjee said though she was somewhat scared about the communication facilities in India before arriving here early this year, she was proved wrong during her stay in the country and was now extremely happy with the overall working atmosphere among the Indian colleagues in different colleges and universities.

Incidentally the lecture was organised as part of an annual feature of the United States Educational Foundation in India to mark the tenth anniversary of Fulbright Scholership to India.

UNI