Jharkhand chief minister Hemant Soren has invited British high commissioner Alex Ellis to Ranchi “at the earliest” to sign an MoU on Chevening-Marang Gomke Scholarship and explore partnership in key sectors.
Hemant’s letter to Ellis, shared on the chief minister’s official Twitter handle on Friday night, expresses “Jharkhand government’s commitment towards bridging barriers in access to higher education and other sectors for the marginalised and vulnerable communities of the state”.
“I look forward to welcoming you in Ranchi at the earliest, as per your convenience. Besides signing of the scholarship MoU between the British High Commission (BHC) and Jharkhand government, I look forward to discussing with you and the BHC team on possible cooperation and partnership in sports, climate change, electric vehicles and renewable energy and education,” the letter states.
The letter also expresses “sincere thanks to Alex Ellis High Commissioner, British High Commission and Chevening FCDO India team for the support towards launching the joint UK Govt-Jharkhand Govt Chevening-Marang Gomke Scholarship”.
Chevening is the UK government’s international awards programme aimed at developing global leaders.
Funded by the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) and partner organisations, Chevening offers two types of awards — Chevening scholarship and Chevening fellowship — the recipients of which are selected by British embassies and high commissions throughout the world.
On Wednesday, the British high commissioner had written to Hemant, thanking the state government for the Chevening scholarship “for talented young people to study in the UK”.
“Great news for those 15 students, for us and hopefully for the people of Jharkhand,” the letter stated.
The high commissioner had congratulated the overseas scholarship scheme and said: “This is a wonderful opportunity for 25 scholars to receive an excellent education, open their eyes to the world and make a lasting, positive change when they return to Jharkhand.”
The commissioner, while looking forward to meeting the chief minister, had hoped “this can be the start of more collaboration between BHC and the government of Jharkhand”.
Earlier this month, the Jharkhand government had announced the expansion of the overseas scholarship scheme to include students from Scheduled Caste, Schedule Tribe, OBCs and other minority communities to help them pursue higher education in the UK.
The number of students who can be eligible for the scholarship has also been increased to 25 from 10 last year. The state government has also increased the allocated budget for the scholarship to Rs 16 crore per year from Rs 10 crore.
The Jharkhand government had in September last year launched the Marang Gomke Jaipal Singh Munda overseas scholarship scheme for selected tribal students to pursue higher studies in premier institutions in the UK and Northern Ireland.
A communique issued by the Jharkhand government last week had said the state government would partner the UK government’s FCDO
to fund the Chevening-Marang Gomke Jaipal Singh Munda Scholarship to provide opportunities to students of Jharkhand belonging to SC, ST, OBC and other minority communities in the next three academic years starting September 2023.
A formal MoU to be valid for three years would be inked soon.
