‘SPARSH Yojana’ to Motivate Kids Towards Philately

Tirupati: In a bid to encourage philately, the collection and study of postage stamps, the department of Posts has earlier launched a scholarship scheme called ‘Deen Dayal SPARSH Yojana’ for the students of Classes 6 to 9. Stamp collection as a hobby has a lot of educational benefits as it teaches a lot about the socio-economic political reality of the period or the theme on which the stamp is issued. Obviously, maintaining a collection is a relaxing activity that counteracts the stress.

Through ‘Deen Dayal SPARSH Yojana’ (Scholarship for Promotion of Aptitude & Research in Stamps as a Hobby-SPARSH), the department of Posts reinforces the efforts aimed towards increasing the reach of philately. Under this, it is proposed to award annual scholarships to those students who have a good academic record and also pursue philately as a hobby. According to the officials of the department, the objective of the scholarship is to promote the hobby among children at a young age in a sustainable manner that can reinforce and supplement the academic curriculum in addition to providing a hobby that can help them relax.

Tirupati division senior superintendent of post offices Md Jaffer Sadiq said that the selection process will be in two stages, philately written quiz and philately project, while the last date for applying for the same is September 20. The written quiz will be conducted at Tirupati head post office on October 1. And the eligible candidates in the quiz will have to send the project within 500 words using a maximum of 16 stamps within 15 days of results.

The successful candidates will get Rs 6,000 per annum which will be credited into the joint account of the student and their parents. However, students should be pursuing education from a recognised school and there must be a philately club in that school or else the student should have a personal philately deposit account.