When it comes to clearance for a Fulbright scholar, even an Indian passport is no help

Karuna Morarji, a 32-year-old Fulbright scholar, does not have a visa problem. She is already in India but has been waiting for clearance for her research— and funds— for over eight months now.

Morarji, a US resident and a scholar in development sociology from Cornell University, wants to research on “A Political Economy of Aspirations: Education, Development and Social Reproduction in Rural India” at the Society for Integrated Development of Himalayas in Mussourie.

She submitted her application for research clearance on June 5, 2006. She has been waiting ever since.

“I am an Indian passport-holder and a US resident, so my situation is a little bit different than for most Fulbright scholars (Fulbright scholarships are only open to US citizens, while Fulbright-Hays is open to residents as well). I do not need a research visa to conduct my research in India, but the granting agency (US Dept of Education) requires a research clearance from the Government of India in order to release the funds. As I am still waiting for my research clearance, I have not received my grant,” she says.

Morarji intends to do a year of field research to examine government, private and NGO efforts to make education more relevant in Jaunpur, a marginal, rural, mountainous block in Tehri Garhwal district, Uttarakhand. She has been preparing for the research for four years. “Since I am not a native speaker of Hindi, (I) have studied the language for one year in India and three years at Cornell in order to reach a level of fluency necessary to conduct my research,” Morarji writes.

Morarji says she came to India in August 2006 as she expected that she would receive her clearance soon and would be able to begin her research in the new academic year. “I have remained in India since then, conducting language studies, visiting family, doing volunteer work and making contacts...