Every year, thousands of students in India take a leap of faith — they enroll in PhD programs, hoping to contribute to research, expand knowledge, and maybe even become the next torchbearers of innovation. But what most of them don’t realize is that this journey, instead of being a climb toward excellence, often turns into a long, lonely battle with broken systems, outdated rules, and constant neglect.
Let’s call it what it is — the PhD system in India is broken. And for those who are living this reality, the distress runs deep.
The Money Problem No One Talks About
Doing a PhD isn’t just about studying and researching. It’s a full-time job — one that often pays less than what an entry-level delivery executive earns in the gig economy. Even if you manage to qualify for the coveted UGC NET-JRF or CSIR fellowships, the stipends are not only low, but also delayed for months at a time. And for those who don’t qualify? They’re stuck with peanuts or nothing at all.
The result? Scholars are forced to depend on their families, take up tutoring, or worse — give up their research altogether. It’s not rare to see brilliant minds from rural or economically weaker backgrounds dropping out, not because they weren’t good enough, but because they couldn’t afford to stay in the game.
Toxic Labs, Absent Mentors, and Unfair Power Play
One of the darkest corners of the PhD system lies in the lab culture. Many universities still operate in a painfully hierarchical setup, where guides behave more like bosses than mentors. There are countless reports — whispered in hostel corridors and shared in hushed online forums — about scholars being made to do personal work for their supervisors, being pressured into adding them as co-authors on papers they had no part in, or being mentally harassed for standing their ground.
And yet, there’s little to no accountability. No functional grievance redressal. No safe space to speak up. The system is silent, and that silence is dangerous.
Publish or Perish: The Race to Nowhere
Another symptom of the broken system is the blind obsession with publishing papers. Instead of encouraging scholars to work on real problems with depth and originality, universities and the UGC have created a numbers game. More papers = more points = more chances of getting hired. But when quality takes a backseat to quantity, you end up with piles of meaningless research that contributes little to the academic world or society.
Worse, many scholars fall into the trap of predatory journals — paying to get their work published just to meet requirements. It’s not just unethical, it’s heartbreaking.
Mental Health: The Silent Crisis in Research
PhD students in India are quietly battling depression, anxiety, burnout, and imposter syndrome. The long timelines, unclear expectations, toxic environments, and poor support systems make things worse. And while students in the West often have access to mental health counselors, support groups, or leave policies, Indian institutions mostly pretend like mental health isn’t even a thing.
Add to that the isolation and fear of not being good enough — and you’ve got a perfect recipe for breakdowns that nobody’s willing to address.
After the Degree, Then What?
Even for those who somehow survive the system and make it to the finish line, the reward is… not much. Permanent faculty positions are few and fiercely competitive. Government job preferences rarely tilt in favour of PhDs. Industry roles? Most of them don’t even recognize the value of a doctoral degree unless it’s from a foreign university.
So what happens? Scholars get stuck in postdoc loops, jump from one contract job to another, or simply leave academia in frustration. Years of effort, research, and sacrifice — and for what?
How Do We Fix It — Before We Lose an Entire Generation of Thinkers?
It’s not enough to just acknowledge the crisis. India needs to act — and fast. Every scholar deserves a basic research stipend, no exceptions. Supervisors need to be held accountable through regular feedback, evaluations, and grievance redressal mechanisms. Labs and libraries need urgent upgrades. Universities must stop chasing numbers and focus on meaningful research.
We need mental health policies tailored for researchers. And perhaps most importantly, we must bridge the gap between academia and industry — so a PhD doesn’t become a career dead-end but a valuable asset.
Conclusion: From Distress to Dignity
Pursuing a PhD in India shouldn’t feel like walking through fire. It should be a time of growth, innovation, and deep learning. But for that to happen, we must stop romanticizing the “struggles” of researchers and start giving them the respect, resources, and support they actually deserve.
The future of India’s knowledge economy depends on the minds we are neglecting today. And unless we fix what’s broken now, we’ll keep losing our brightest to burnout, brain drain, or worse — silence.