Government on Monday announced Rajiv Gandhi National Fellowship for schedule caste and schedule tribe students for pursuing M.Phil and Ph.D. courses in selected universities in the country.
Finance Minister P Chidambaram told Lok Sabha while presenting the Budget for 2005-06 said that it was proposed to provide funds for 2000 fellowships per year to be awarded from next year on the pattern of UGC fellowships.
While the three on-going scholarship schemes for SC-ST students under the central plan would continue, a short list of institutes of excellence will be notified and any SC/ST student who secures admission in one of the those institutes will be awarded scholarship that would meet the requirements for tution fees, living expenses, books and a computer. The allocation for various schemes for development of SCs and STs is Rs 6,253 crores (Rs 62.53 billion), he said.
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