Tribal students to be awarded fellowships

Higher education is no more a distant dream for tribal students. The Ministry of Tribal Affairs has decided to award fellowship to the scholars from tribal community pursuing M Phil and PhD at different universities in the country.

Higher education is no more a distant dream for tribal students. The Ministry of Tribal Affairs has decided to award fellowship to the scholars from tribal community pursuing M Phil and PhD at different universities in the country.

“The Ministry is starting Rajiv Gandhi National Fellowship scheme from the current session. The scheme has already got the approval of the Cabinet,” Ministry Secretary Meena Gupta said.

The scheme, to be implemented through University Grants Commission (UGC), aims at providing fellowship to 667 students per year. The selection criteria is yet to be finalised. “It’s quite possible that the students will be selected on the basis of marks,” said Gupta.

The selected students will get a stipend of Rs 8,000 per month during M Phil, while at the PhD level, the grant would be increased to Rs 9000 monthly. The eligible students will get some other grants too. States having the highest Scheduled Tribe population will have a major stake in this scheme, as it earmarks fellowships for each state on basis of the percentage of country’s tribal population residing there.

“This will ensure each tribal populated state of getting their due share in the scheme,” said Gupta. The government would grant Rs 8.8 crore this year and increase it to Rs 17 crore next year, she said.

“The intention is to ensure that the erudite tribal students do not discontinue their studies halfway owing to financial problems,” she added.

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