The Jharkhand Chief Minister Hemant Soren and the British High Commissioner to India on behalf of the Jharkhand Government and UK Government respectively signed an MoU regarding the Chevening Marang Gomke Jaipal Singh Munda Scholarship Scheme (Chevening MGJSM Scholarship) on Tuesday.

The Chevening Marang Gomke Jaipal Singh Munda (MGJSM) scholarship will offer up to five scholars from Jharkhand full financial support to pursue a one-year master's in the UK. The Chevening MGJSM Scholarships will be offered annually from 2023, read the British High Commission in India press release.

The scholarship aims to provide fully funded scholarships to students of the SC, ST, minority and BC categories for one-year studies in programmes in several UK universities. Jharkhand government in partnership with the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO), British High Commission, New Delhi in collaboration is to provide the benefits of the scholarship programme to the marginalized and underrepresented communities of the state.

Notably, the Marang Gomke Jaipal Singh Munda Overseas Scholarship is to provide financial support to 25 aspirants of the SC, ST, BC and minority communities. Of these, scholarships for five students will be jointly covered by the state and UK governments under the Chevening MGJSM Scholarship.

Addressing the audience on the occasion, Alex Ellis, British High Commissioner to India said, “Investing in Education and climate are our best gifts to our children. I’m delighted that today, with the support of CM Soren and our partners across the state, we are able to do that.”

Here, the High Commissioner was referring to the launch of the Jharkhand module of the Climate Resilience Information System and Planning (CRISP-M) tool. It is notably a web and mobile phone-based geographic information system that will support the planning, implementation and monitoring of the Mahatma Gandhi NREGA scheme.Referring to his visit to India as an 18-year-old, Ellis further added, “An education in another country can be a defining experience. I’m pleased that each year five brilliant scholars from the state will have the opportunity to study at the UK’s world-leading universities with full financial support.”

Stressing on the importance of education, Chief Minister Soren said, “This is an effort by us to provide as many opportunities to the youth in Jharkhand. Jharkhand is considered one of the several backward states in India in terms of education; however, we have taken this initiative to improve the state’s condition in this regard.”

He further talked about the process of working for the scholarship. He added, “Several students of the backward classes want to complete higher education abroad. However, due to financial reasons, they are not able to do so. This initiative by the government aims to help such students so that they can fulfil their dreams and then come back to India to work for the betterment of the society at large.”

Students that have received the opportunity to go abroad this year under the scholarship were also present on the occasion and shared their experiences. Among these were Sameer Gupta and Nidhi Kispotta, who addressed the audience and talked about their aims after their education in the UK.

State government to send 25 students abroad for higher education

State government in partnership with the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO), British High Commission, New Delhi is set to send 20 students abroad for further studies under the Chevening Marang Gomke Jaipal Singh Munda Overseas Scholarship Scheme. The initial plan was to send a total of 25 students. However, due to a lack of proper documentation, five seats remained vacant.

The interview process for the 20 students is completed. The list of selected students is in the final process. The selected students will include students from Scheduled Tribes, Backward Castes, Minorities and Scheduled Castes. All these students will get higher education in the UK’s top universities including Oxford and Cambridge.

The government has also invited applications for the remaining five seats. The expanded version of the scholarship will now cover a maximum of 25 scholars from the earlier number of 10.

A maximum of 10 talented scholars from the Scheduled Tribes, five from the Scheduled Castes, three from Minorities and seven from the Backward Classes will be able to avail of the scholarship.

The last day to apply for the Chevening Marang Gomke Jaipal Singh Munda Scholarship is November 1, 2022.

For more information, interested candidates may visit https://www.chevening.org/scholarship/india. Notably, the Jharkhand government will bear the cost of higher education for students. The government has decided to send around 30 students from next year. Educational costs of five of these will be covered by a government agency in Britain