At the time when the Indo-US civil nuclear cooperation deal was taking shape after it was cleared by the US Senate, harassed and angry US Fulbright scholars shot off a sharp missive to the US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and all Senate members pleading for help.

In a desperate e-mail — it was sent on December 13 — to Secretary Rice and other Senate members, about 33 scholars whose visa applications were still pending wrote: “We, recipients of 2006-07 awards to India under the Fulbright program, are writing to alert you to major problems in the implementation of this program, and to ask for your help in addressing these problems.”

“The vast majority of us have experienced long delays in receiving our grants, while most still pending as of December 13, 2006. Those whose grants are pending have received no funding or accurate information that would help us to plan for the future, and many of us are without income and health insurance,” they said.

“After communicating with 2005-06 grantees, we have learned that there were very substantial delays and failures in communication last year as well,” wrote the scholars.

The United States Educational Foundation of India (USEFI) which was the Fulbright Commission in India became the punching bag for these scholars, not realising that the fault lied entirely with the Indian government.

“We have given up jobs, graduate school, fellowships and housing in order to come to India, and many of us are experiencing very adverse financial and professional consequences,” they wrote. “When we received our acceptance letters, we understood our selection to be a great honour and a prestigious career boost; for many of us, it has instead become a financially and emotionally debilitating obstacle.”

... contd.