Research Fellowship in Archives (Delhi)

What is the Research Fellowship in Archives?

The Research Fellowship in Archives is a scheme of the Department of Delhi Archives, Government of NCT of Delhi, which describes its holdings as one of the richest and most scientifically maintained archives in India. The fellowship exists to put trained researchers to work on those holdings; reading them, conserving them, digitising them, and publishing from them.

The Department of Delhi Archives sanctions 15 fellowships in all: 10 Senior Research Fellows (SRF) and 5 Junior Research Fellows (JRF). That split, and the subject areas, are stated on the department's own fellowship page.

The seven areas the fellowship covers are:

• Records management; arrangement, description and appraisal of the department's record groups.
• Research and publication: producing scholarly work from the archives.
• Conservation, physical treatment and preventive care of paper, parchment and bound volumes.
• Digitisation: imaging and metadata work on archival material.
• Oriental languages (Urdu and Persian), reading, transcribing and cataloguing records in scripts most modern researchers cannot access.
• Microfilming. The older but still-used preservation surrogate format.
• Dissemination of information and data; making the collection findable and usable by the public.

The Oriental Languages category matters more than its size suggests. A very large share of Delhi's pre-1900 administrative record is in Urdu and Persian, and the pool of scholars who can read nastaliq court hand is small and ageing. This is why that category is reported to carry no upper age limit while the others cap at 40.

How much does the Delhi Archives fellowship pay?

Reported rates are Rs 50,000 per month for a Senior Research Fellow and Rs 25,000 per month for a Junior Research Fellow, held for one year and extendable by a second year on the strength of the fellow's performance.

Two honest cautions about those figures. First, they come from published reporting of the fellowship guidelines, not from a circular currently visible on delhiarchives.delhi.gov.in, the department's fellowship page confirms the scheme and the 10-SRF/5-JRF split but does not itself display the rates. Second, fellowship rates are revised from time to time. Confirm the current amount against the live notification or by telephoning the department on 011-26512594 or 011-26535611 before you build a budget around it.

Who is eligible for the Delhi Archives fellowship?

You can apply if:

• You are a resident of Delhi. Residence proof is a required document.
• You hold a Master's degree with at least 55% marks in a discipline relevant to the category you are applying against. The exact discipline varies by category: history and archival studies for records management and research, conservation or a science background for conservation, Urdu or Persian for the Oriental Languages posts.
• You are not more than 40 years old at the application deadline. Applicants in the Oriental Languages category are reported to be exempt from this limit.
• You can commit to a full-time research engagement for the fellowship year.

You cannot apply if:

• You are employed by government — central, state or local body. The fellowship is not a top-up on a salaried post.
• You are already drawing another fellowship, scholarship, stipend or research grant. Concurrent funding is expressly barred, and an undertaking to that effect is part of the application.
• You are not resident in Delhi.
• You are over 40 and applying against any category other than Oriental Languages.
• You do not meet the 55% Master's threshold for your category.

What documents are required?

How to apply for the Delhi Archives Research Fellowship

The Department of Delhi Archives has not notified an online portal for this fellowship. Application is offline.

1. Watch delhiarchives.delhi.gov.in for the fellowship advertisement. The Research Fellowship in Archives sits under the Schemes menu, and notifications are posted there and in the department's notice section.
2. Choose one category, records management, research and publication, conservation, digitisation, Oriental languages, microfilming, or dissemination of information, and check the qualification specified for SRF and JRF within it. You apply against a category, not to the fellowship in general.
3. Write the research proposal, keeping it within the reported three-page limit. Ground it in record groups the Delhi Archives actually holds; a proposal that could equally be executed at any archive in India is the commonest reason a strong CV still loses.
4. Write the 1,000-word essay explaining what draws you to Delhi's archival record and what you intend to produce from the fellowship year.
5. Collect up to three letters of recommendation from academic referees who have supervised or examined your research.
6. Prepare the bank draft for the application fee; reported at Rs 500 for general applicants and Rs 250 for SC/ST applicants: drawn as specified in the advertisement.
7. Assemble the document set: form, proposal, essay, degree certificates and marksheets, recommendation letters, Delhi residence proof, PAN card, age proof and the signed undertaking.
8. Submit the complete application to the Department of Delhi Archives, 18-A, Satsang Vihar Marg, New Delhi-110067, by the date stated in the advertisement. Keep a photocopied set and get the submission acknowledged.

How to check your application status

There is no online status tracker. Selected applicants are contacted directly, and the shortlist and interview call are communicated by the department. To follow up on a submitted application, contact the Department of Delhi Archives on 011-26512594 or 011-26535611, or write to ddarchives[at]nic[dot]in, quoting the category you applied for and the date you submitted.

Why applications get rejected

• Proposal not anchored to Delhi Archives holdings. The fellowship funds work on this collection specifically.
• Applying to a category you are not qualified for. Each of the seven areas carries its own qualification, and conservation and Oriental languages in particular expect specialist training.
• Currently holding another fellowship or grant. This is a hard bar, and the undertaking makes a false declaration a serious matter.
• In government service. Serving employees are outside the scheme.
• Over the age limit in any category other than Oriental Languages.
• Incomplete document set. A missing PAN card, residence proof or fee draft is enough to set an application aside without it reaching the panel.
• Proposal or essay over the stated length. The three-page and 1,000-word limits are limits, not suggestions.

Key dates and how the cycle runs

The Research Fellowship in Archives runs on advertisement-driven cycles rather than a rolling window: the department issues a notification, sets a closing date, shortlists, and interviews. No standing annual date has been published. The practical approach is to keep the document set; degree certificates, residence proof, PAN, referee letters: ready in advance, and to check the department's site periodically, because the window between advertisement and closing date on schemes of this type is typically short.

Fellows selected are engaged for one year, with a further year possible on the basis of performance assessed by the department.

Contacts and grievance redressal

• Department of Delhi Archives, Government of NCT of Delhi to 18-A, Satsang Vihar Marg, New Delhi-110067.
• Telephone: 011-26512594 and 011-26535611.
• Email: ddarchives[at]nic[dot]in.
• Website: delhiarchives.delhi.gov.in, with the fellowship page under the Schemes menu.

For any dispute over selection or payment, write to the Deputy Director of Archives at the departmental address, quoting your application details. There is no fee payable to any agent, the only payment in this process is the prescribed application fee, paid by bank draft directly to the department.