Ranchi, Aug 11 (PTI) To enable meritorious students pursue their dream of higher education in 100 selected global institutes of repute, Jharkhand government will soon launch the CM Fellowship for courses like MPhil and PhD, Chief Minister Hemant Soren said on Friday.
Soren said the state government will bear all costs of such courses in order to give wings to the dreams of students in a backward state like Jharkhand, which despite having 45 per cent of the country's mineral resources, had taken a backseat.
"The state government would soon launch the Chief Minister Fellowship Programme for promising youth under which financial assistance will be given for courses like PhD and MPhil in top 100 universities in the world," Soren said while felicitating 25 youth selected for Marang Gomke Jaipal Singh Munda Scholarship and Chevening Marang Gomke Jaipal Singh Munda Scholarship.
In August last year, the Jharkhand government had signed a pact with the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) of the British High Commission, New Delhi, to award the Chevening Marang Gomke Jaipal Singh Munda Scholarship to five scholars belonging to the Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes, Other Backward Classes and minority community in the state.
The MoU was signed by Alex Ellis, British High Commissioner to India, in the presence of Soren, who had made this commitment while launching the Marang Gomke Jaipal Singh Munda Scholarship in 2021.
The scholarship offers full financial support to pursue a one-year master's in the UK.
"We promise that resource crunch will not come in the way of talent ...We have launched a number of schemes for youth and under the overseas scholarships, the government will not only help you till your studies but will embrace you if you want to play your part for the development of the state after completion of your courses," Soren said.
Felicitating the selected 25 youth for the overseas scholarship, Soren said, "Today, once again the dream of the talented youth from the deprived sections of Jharkhand is coming true."
Chief Secretary Sukhdev Singh said it is a moment of pride that children of the tribal community will go to top British institutions.
"It is a creation of history and we are today writing the pages of history...the overseas scholarship is not a normal scheme as the state government had in some cases provided subsidy to the tune of Rs 75 lakh per head which is not heard of in other states," Singh said.
"There is no condition, no barrier, no bond...," he said and added that state was ready to handhold such students if they wanted to start some start-ups or other venture as per given policies.
The selected 25 youth will pursue higher education in institutions of Ireland and the UK.
Pranav Kashyap, who was earlier selected and is undergoing studies in the University of Kent, said his journey has been transformative while another selected youth Abhishek Kumar said it was life defining moment.
Both the current the scholarships are aimed at expanding the opportunities for the youth of Jharkhand to attain quality higher education from world-class universities.
Under the Marang Gomke Jaipal Singh Munda Scholarship Scheme, tribal children had gone abroad to pursue higher education in the first phase.
The Chevening Marang Gomke Jaipal Singh Munda Scholarship started in the UK academic year of 2023-24.
In September 2021, nearly a century after Jharkhand's tribal icon Jaipal Singh Munda was admitted to St John's College, Oxford, six meritorious tribal students from the state were selected for the Marang Gomke Jaipal Singh Munda overseas scholarship. They pursued higher studies in prestigious UK institutes under a state-funded scholarship.