Apply for help to study abroad, students told

Secretariat (Velagapudi): Jagananna Videshi Vidya scheme would provide financial help to every eligible student to study abroad, said Minister for Social Welfare Merugu Nagarjuna. On Monday, he reviewed the scheme with the officials as the submission of applications online to pursue education abroad has commenced.

The Minister said that there was no restriction on the number of students per year and students should apply for the financial help on or before September 30. The scheme is applicable to students belonging to SC, ST, BC and Minorities and also to upper caste students from low-income families. At present, the applications are being received through Jnanabhumi portal, which contains all the details including rules and regulations, the list of eligible ranking universities.

If students secure seats in universities with the QS rank of below 100, the fee would be reimbursed even if it is Rs one crore. Likewise, if the rank is between 101 to 200, the fee of Rs 50 lakh would be reimbursed. He reminded the students that their family annual income should be less than Rs 8 lakh. The government had already received number of applications and the committee of officials would go through them to select the candidates for submission to the Social Welfare department.

The Minister announced that a proposal to train SC and ST students to appear for TOEFL and GRE to secure seats in the high-ranking universities, was submitted to the government.

Minister Nagarjuna instructed the officials to provide better training facilities at Ambedkar Study Circles across the State. He also instructed them to expedite the appointment of directors to the study circles in Tirupati, Vijayawada and Visakhapatnam.

Good library facility should

be provided to the students, who appear for civil services examinations.

Social Welfare secretary in-charge A Md Imtiaz, director K Harshavardhan, joint director Srinivasulu, deputy secretary Mustafa and others were present.