JRF Salary: ₹37,000 Stipend, HRA and Contingency Grant Explained

The JRF salary is a stipend of ₹37,000 a month for the first two years, and HRA is not included in it. The CSIR fellowship guidelines, effective 1 March 2023, calculate HRA on "the actual stipend" and exclude fellows who live in a hostel provided by the university or institute.

The UGC fellowship page lists the same stipend for UGC fellows: ₹37,000 a month for two years and ₹42,000 for the remaining period, with a tenure of "5 years or submission of thesis whichever is earlier". A fellowship is a stipend for doing PhD research, not pay for a post, which is why the employment rules in the FAQ below apply to it.

HRA equals your stipend multiplied by the percentage your institution applies, capped at the central government rate for your city, and it is zero in an institute hostel. As of October 2026, central government HRA is 30, 20 and 10 per cent of basic pay for X, Y and Z class cities.

The Department of Expenditure's office memorandum of 7 July 2017 set the ladder: 24, 16 and 8 per cent, then 27, 18 and 9 per cent when dearness allowance (a cost-of-living supplement on government pay) crosses 25 per cent, then 30, 20 and 10 per cent when it crosses 50 per cent.

Neither CSIR nor UGC publishes a percentage table of its own. The CSIR guidelines say HRA is paid "as per the rules of the host institutions" and "in no case it should exceed the rates payable to Central Government Employees in that area". UGC's JRF guidelines say a fellow who arranges their own accommodation may draw HRA "as per categorisation of the cities by the Government of India", with a certificate submitted through the registrar. UGC's last published fellow rates were 8, 16 and 24 per cent from 1 January 2019.

If your institution still applies UGC's 2019 percentages, JRF HRA is ₹2,960, ₹5,920 or ₹8,880 a month at 8, 16 or 24 per cent. Our recommendation is to budget with the lower figure until you have the percentage in writing. A hostel resident should budget on the stipend alone.

Over a full five-year tenure the stipend alone is ₹24,00,000 (₹24 lakh), and HRA adds between ₹1,92,000 and ₹7,20,000. This is our model, not an official figure.

The working: 24 months at ₹37,000 is ₹8,88,000, and 36 months at ₹42,000 is ₹15,12,000, which together make ₹24,00,000. HRA over the same period is the rate multiplied by ₹24,00,000, because HRA is a percentage of the stipend.

The assumptions, as of October 2026, are five full years, upgrade to SRF at month 25, no hostel stay and no unpaid leave. A hostel resident should plan on ₹24,00,000. The contingency grant is left out because it pays for research costs and is not income.

No. Under the CSIR guidelines, as of October 2026, upgrade depends on registering for a PhD within two years of joining and submitting a progress report for upgradation. An expert committee of your guide, the head of department and an external member then assesses you.

If the assessment is unsatisfactory, you may continue as JRF for a third year at ₹37,000, or the fellowship can end. UGC's guidelines likewise provide for expert evaluation after two years and, if the work is unsatisfactory, an additional year as JRF.

The gap is ₹5,000 a month in stipend, plus the HRA that goes with it. Our recommendation: register for the PhD as early as your university allows, and put the progress-report deadline in your calendar. The CSIR guidelines say the report is due "within six months for upgradation", so confirm the date from which that period runs.

The contingency grant is ₹20,000 a year under CSIR and ₹10,000 to ₹25,000 a year under UGC, and you receive it only against claims. The stipend is the same in both.

Under CSIR, a claim for a previous financial year "will not be entertained", so keep every bill for books, travel and consumables and file within the year. The UGC page does not say which row mathematics falls under, so use the row on your sanction letter.

You do not choose between the two. In the CSIR-UGC NET result notice for June 2026, ranks go first to all JRF qualifiers, and candidates are then distributed between CSIR and UGC in the ratio of fellowships shared between the two for each subject.

Living in a hostel removes HRA, and unpaid leave removes stipend. The CSIR guidelines allow leave with stipend "not exceeding 30 days for each completed year of tenure", approved by your guide.

Money also lags behind paperwork. HRA needs proof of rent, contingency needs bills, and the stipend starts once your joining formalities are complete. Because you pay research costs first and are reimbursed later, we recommend keeping at least three months of rent, food and travel in savings before you move for the PhD. This is our recommendation, not a rule.

Confirm six things in writing, each with a clear pass or fail:

For the June 2026 session, the JRF cut-off in Mathematical Science was 43.000 per cent for the General (UR) category. The same notice lists 37.625 for EWS, 37.500 for OBC, 30.250 for SC, 27.375 for ST and 25.250 for PwD.

These come from the CSIR-HRDG cut-off notice for the June 2026 exam, held on 17 and 18 July 2026, with results declared on 9 September 2026. The notice states there is no separate cut-off for Parts A, B and C; the cumulative marks of all parts decide the merit list. In the same notice, the Assistant Professor eligibility cut-off for Mathematical Science was 38.700 per cent for UR, so a JRF award needed 4.300 percentage points more.

Across the last three sessions the UR JRF cut-off in Mathematical Science ranged from 42.000 to 53.375 per cent: 53.375 in June 2025, 42.000 in December 2025 (results declared 23 February 2026) and 43.000 in June 2026. The cut-off moves by session, so plan for a score with a margin above the latest figure, not on one number. Our CSIR NET maths cut-off page helps you turn these into a target score.

Once you have a target, the CSIR NET Mathematical Sciences syllabus explained maps the units, and GATE Mathematics vs CSIR-NET for an IIT PhD helps if you are weighing both routes. We teach CSIR-NET and GATE mathematics through live and recorded courses and test series, and our free study content includes demo classes and a PDF drive. For fees and batch details, contact us with your target session and current score.