Himalayan News Service

Kathmandu, March 24:

Indian ambassador to Nepal, Shiv Shankar Mukherjee, today gave away certificates of merit to 50 Nepali undergraduate students selected for this year’s scholarship under the Golden Jubilee Scholarship Scheme awarded by the government of India. Under the scheme, 10 students each doing their MBBS and BE and 30 students doing their bachelor’s degree in Nepal — including BSc, BBS, BBA and BA — are provided with monthly stipend of Rs 3,000 and Rs 2,000 respectively untill completion of their degree. The golden Jubilee Scholarship Scheme was implemented by the government of India in 2002 to mark the 50th year of Nepal-India economic cooperation. The students were selected on the basis of merit and need, and 50 per cent of the seats were reserved for students from educationally disadvantaged districts, according to the embassy.

Addressing the function, ambassador Mukherjee expressed satisfaction for being involved in education field in Nepal. “I am happy and privileged to be involved in the development of human resources in Nepal,” he said. The government of India provides nearly 1,000 scholarships or training slots to Nepali nationals each year. Besides the Golden Jubilee Scholarship, the embassy awards 500 scholarships under the Mahatma Gandhi Scheme, equivalent to Rs 500 per month, to students studying in Nepal in Grade IX to XII. In addition, tens of thousand of Nepali students have been pursuing studies in India in a wide range of courses — including medicine, engineering, business studies, agriculture, IT, music, fine arts, film and hotel management — under scholarship or admission administered by the Indian Embassy in Kathmandu and the Indian Consulate in Birgunj. Similarly, India provides training to Nepali nationals in the areas of media, science and technology, human resource development, planning, urban development and the like. Apart from this, it is estimated that over 150,000 Nepali students are pursuing various studies in India on their own, according to a press release issued by the embassy.