HRD Minister Prakash Javadekar recently clarified that the Union Cabinet will soon give an approval for the Rs. 75,000 monthly scholarship scheme aimed at bright students in higher learning institutes to regulate brain drain and encourage innovation. The scholarship scheme will be applicable for students of Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs) and universities where the required infrastructure is being funded and provided under Uchchatar Avishkar Yojana. The HRD Minister has already signed the Cabinet note which will be tabled in the cabinet very soon.
According to the proposed scholarship scheme, a total number of 1,000 students from universities and higher learning institutes will be selected who will be awarded Rs. 75,000 scholarship per month. It is one of its kind of initiatives in India that completely focuses on innovation and the idea of regulating brain drain which will ultimately help in retaining talent in the country.
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If everything goes according to HRD's plan, the scholarship scheme will bring a new era of innovation and research. The setting up of world class institutes will also come as an advantage to the applicants who wish to excel in the field of research.
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Among the other initiatives, Prakash Javadekar also hoped that the proportion of girl students in IITs would increase to 20% from the existing 8% by 2022. HRD Ministry will focus on bolstering research through Higher Education Financing Agency (HEFA) , which is currently operational. HRD Ministry is also trying to initiate Vishwajeet Project through other agencies. Recently, the Finance Ministry declined the approval to grant funding for project Vishwajeet as Indian higher learning institutes failed to show exceptional performance in World University Rankings (THE) 2018.