Himalayan News Service

Kathmandu, February 11

The second batch of the Golden Jubilee Scholarship Scheme were felicitated at a function at the Indian Embassy today. Minister for Education and Sports, Hari Bahadur Basnet, gave away certificates to the scholars.

The Golden Jubilee Scholarship Scheme was launched by the government of India in 2003 to commemorate 50 years of economic cooperation between India and Nepal. According to the embassy, 50 Nepali students are given scholarships for various undergraduate courses in Nepal. Under this scheme, a monthly scholarship of Nepali Rupees 3000 is given to 10 students doing MBBS, Nepali Rupees 2000 is given monthly to 10 students pursuing Bachelors in Engineering (BE)

and 30 students doing other courses including BSc, BBS, B Pharma, Forestry etc until the completion of their degree. The students have been selected on the basis of merit and need. Half of the seats have been reserved for students from educationally disadvantaged districts.

"The government of India every year provides for nearly a 1000 scholarships or training slots to Nepali nationals. This figure includes the 500 Mahatma Gandhi Scholarships (NRs 500 monthly) given to class XI and XII students studying in Nepal."