The Embassy of India in Kathmandu on Wednesday awarded 200 Golden Jubilee Scholarships to meritorious Nepali students for continuing their studies in various undergraduate courses at different universities and colleges across Nepal for the academic year 2018-19.
A statement released by the Indian Embassy said that this year, the scholarships recipients' cover 36 undergraduate courses, which include MBBS, BDS, BE, BSc, BBA, and BCom courses.
Hailing from 50 districts across Nepal, the students comprise of around 45 per cent girls and eight per cent differently-abled students, the statement added.
Secretary to the Ministry of Education, Khaga Raj Baral, who became the chief guest at the celebration held at the Hotel Hyatt Regency in Kathmandu, presented the certificate of merit to 200 students.
Ambassador of India to Nepal, Manjeev Singh Puri, who was also present at the event, congratulated the students and advised them to achieve personal and professional fulfilment, contributing to the socio-economic development of Nepal and strengthening the India-Nepal relations.
In 2002, India started the prestigious Golden Jubilee Scholarship scheme to mark the completion of 50 years of India-Nepal Economic Cooperation.
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At the inception of this scheme, 50 meritorious Nepali students were awarded the scholarships. In the year 2007, the numbers of scholarships increased to 100. Since the year 2012, the numbers of scholarships have been doubled to 200.
Under this scheme, an MBBS/BDS student receives Nepali Rupee (NRs.) 4000/- per month for five years, a BE student receives NRs. 4000/- per month for four years, and a student studying in other under-graduate courses receives NRs. 3000/- per month for three years.
So far more than 2,350 Nepali students have been awarded the Golden Jubilee Scholarships from across 77 districts of Nepal, the Embassy said.
In return to this, India, at the same time, also provides a total of about 3000 scholarships in medical, science, veterinary sciences, pharmacology, dental science, agriculture, engineering, arts, commerce, science, computer science, nursing and many other disciplines to study in various universities and colleges in Nepal as well as India.
These scholarships are part of India's efforts to support human resources development along with the overall socio-economic development of Nepal and its people.