Press Statement on Educational Scholarships in India

   India has now become a world-class education destination, with premier institutes of excellence, where best brains get the opportunity to develop their faculties. These young talented minds, after their successful academic pursuits, go on to become leaders in various fields, like, culture, economics, management, science and technology, arts, and other modern areas. Govt. of India provides various scholarship programs, annually, for meritorious Bangladeshi students. They are:

I.  ICCR Scholarship Programs: Indian Council for Cultural Relations (ICCR), founded (9^th April 1950) by Maulana Abul Kalam Azad, the first Education Minister of Independent India, offers scholarships every year, to international students in various disciplines of Undergraduate, Postgraduate and Ph.D courses. Till date, more than 4500 students from Bangladesh have benefited from these fully funded scholarship programs, wherein Govt. of India pays fully for tuition fee, accommodation, study tour and transportation, apart from paying them a handsome stipend. Few famous Bangladeshi ICCR alumni include Vice-Chancellor of BUET – Satya Prasad Majumder, Barrister Tureen Afroz, Dean of Fine Arts in Dhaka University – Prof. Nisar Hossain, Rabindra Sangeet exponent - Rezwana Chowdhury Bannya, Cartoonist - Shishir Bhattacharjee, Dancer – Shibli Mohammad, among others.

1. a. Under Suborno Jayanti Scholarship (SJS) scheme, of Prime Minister Modi, 500 slots have been earmarked for Bangladeshi students, since AY 2022-23. During AY 2023-24, 150 Bangladeshis are being selected in Ivy League Engineering Institutes of India (like IIT/NIT/DTU/GTU), while 350 are going to study non-Engg. Subjects in premier Universities (like Delhi Univ., Pune Univ., Aligarh Muslim Univ., Nalanda Univ. and Kurukshetra Univ.).
2. b. Under Lata Mangeshkar Scholarship scheme, for Indian Culture, 50 Bangladeshi students are being placed in institutions of excellence during this year, competing with global participation.
3. c. Under AYUSH (Ayurveda Yoga Unani Siddha Homeopathy) Scholarship scheme, 57 Bangladeshis have availed of the opportunity to study alternative medicine subjects.

II.  MEA-FRI Scholarship Scheme: Ten fully paid scholarships per year are offered to students from South Asian countries for M.Sc. In Forestry and Allied programs, which is open to Bangladeshi students too.

III.  Study in India (SII) Programs: This flagship project of Govt. of India, implemented through EdCIL, is designed to facilitate the global student fraternity to come and experience the best academic learning from top institutions in India. Students compete for upto full tuition fee waiver, under this program, to study diverse course options, inclusive of Engineering, Business, Management, Photonics, Pharmacy, Law, Commerce, Humanities & other niche courses at various levels of Diploma, UG, PG, Masters and PhD.  Whileas more than 1500 students from Bangladesh have obtained this scholarship, till now, 739 Bangladeshi students have been offered admission under SII scheme in AY 2023-24.

1. Self Financing Scheme (SFS) Programs: This scheme offers MBBS and BDS (provided applicant qualifies NEET exam), B.E./B.Tech., B.Pharmacy and B.Arch. Courses, wherein candidate studies on his own funds in Public Universities of repute.

V.   Scholarship Program for Diaspora Children (SPDC): Ministry of External Affairs, Govt. of India, launched “Scholarship Program for Diaspora Children” (SPDC) in A.Y. 2022-23 for children of NRIs/PIOs/OCIs for pursuing UG courses in India. 150 scholarships are being provided globally, for Children of Persons of Indian Origin (PIOs)/Overseas Citizenship of India (OCIs)/Non-Resident Indians (NRIs), who have studied outside India, and, have done their 11^th & 12^th education or equivalent (not beyond), in a foreign country. Candidates would be selected on Merit-cum-Means basis. Evaluation will be done on the marks obtained in 12^th grade or equivalent examination. Only fresh year students (1^st year), of age group of 17-21 years, whose parents’ monthly income do not exceed US$ 5000 (or equivalent), shall be eligible for the scholarship. SPDC portal (http://spdcindia.gov.in) may be referred to for further details.