New Delhi: A large number of students from India prefer foreign destinations for pursuing higher education. Nearly 4-5 lakh of students from India annually enroll in foreign universities based in USA, European countries, Australia, the UAE, New Zealand, etc.
The government of India provides scholarships for students undertaking higher education in foreign universities in the field of art, agriculture, law, medicine, engineering, etc. The Minister of State (HRD), Dr. Mahendra Nath Pandey today (09 March 2017) in a written reply to a Rajya Sabha question has briefed about these schemes.
The government scholarships available to students pursuing education in foreign universities are as followed:
1- National Overseas Scholarship for Scheduled Tribe Students: The scheme is implemented by the Ministry of Tribal Affairs. Under the scheme, financial assistance is provided to meritorious Scheduled Tribe students for pursuing Master level courses, PhD and Post-Doctoral Research Programmes in foreign universities in the field of Engineering, Technology and Science. The family income ceiling of the candidates/parents is Rs. 6.00 lac per annum.
2- National Overseas Scholarship for Scheduled Caste students: The scheme is implemented by the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment. Under the scheme, financial assistance is provided for pursuing Master level course and PhD in foreign universities in the field of Pure and Applied Sciences, Social Science, Agricultural Science, etc. The family income ceiling of the candidates/parents is Rs. 6.00 lac per annum. The number of awards available is 100 per annum.
3- Dr. Ambedkar Scheme of Interest Subsidy on Educational Loan for Overseas Studies for the Students belonging to the Other Backward Classes (OBCs) and Economically Backward Classes (EBCs): The scheme is implemented by Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment. The objective of the scheme is to provide interest subsidy to meritorious OBC and EBC students so as to provide them opportunities to pursue higher education abroad in the field of Arts, Engineering, Medical and Agriculture. The income ceiling is Rs. 3 lakh per annum for OBCs and Rs. 1 lakh for EBCs. 50% of the outlay is earmarked to girl students.
4- Padho Pardesh: The Ministry of Minority Affairs is implementing the scheme wherein interest subsidy is provided to minority students to puruse Master’s Level Courses, MPhil and PhD in foreign universities in the field of Arts, Engineering, Agriculture and Medical. The family income ceiling of the candidates/parents is Rs. 6.00 lakh per annum.
5- Overseas Doctoral Fellowship Programme: The scheme is implemented by Science and Engineering Research Board, a statutory body of Department of Science and Technology. The objective of the scheme is to build national capacity where the talent supply of researchers in areas of interest to the country is sub-critical. The selected fellow is provided US $ 24,000 per annum for a period of 4 years for undertaking the doctoral research program in Science, Technology, Engineering and Medicine from overseas top ranking universities.
