Indian Embassy in Kathmandu celebrates Golden Jubilee Scholarship Day

India's Ambassador to Nepal, Naveen Srivastava, awarded the Ambassador's Golden Jubilee Scholarship Roll of Honour to the first batch of nine meritorious Golden Jubilee Scholarship scholars, the Indian Embassy in Kathmandu informed through a press release.

In his address, Srivastava congratulated the awardees of the 22nd batch of the Golden Jubilee Scholarship Scheme and the meritorious students of the first edition of the Ambassador's Roll of Honour while exhorting them to shine in their respective fields.

Highlighting the 'special ties' between India and Nepal, Ambassador Srivastava stated that it is guided by the PM's Narendra Modi's vision of 'Sabka Saath, Sabka Vikas, Sabka Vishwas and Sabka Prayas,' the Indian Embassy in Kathmandu stated in its official release.

The envoy also underlined the opportunities that are to be created for the youth by engaging and collaborating in the startup ecosystem and incubation centres in India, while also encouraging students to seek sectors to collaborate with. He also underscored the growing collaboration between New Delhi and Kathmandu in the sphere of education, adding that it was empowering the youth.

BP Koirala Institute of Health Sciences Vice Chancellor Gyanendra Giri, Lumbini Buddhist University Vice Chancellor Subarna Lal Bajracharya, Kathmandu University Vice Chancellor Bhola Thapa, Agricultural and Forestry University Vice Chancellor Punya Prasad Regmi, Purbanchal University Vice Chancellor Sailesh Mani Pokhrel, Rajarshi Janak University Amar Prasad Yadav also attended the event.

Deans, registrars, principals of eminent schools and senior officials from the Nepal government also attended the programme. The Golden Jubilee Scholarship was established in 2002 to mark the completion of 50 years of India-Nepal economic cooperation, according to the press release.

Taking to X, the Indian Embassy in Kathmandu shared glimpses of the celebration of 22nd Golden Jubilee Scholarship Day.

A post on the official X handle of The Indian Embassy in Kathmandu read, "@IndiainNepal celebrated 22nd Golden Jubilee Scholarship Day today, attended by Vice Chancellors, Deans, Registrars of prominent Universities in #Nepal , senior officials & School Principals. Around students enthusiastically participated in the programme."

"Bharatnatyam & Nepali folk dance performance by the students of @ICCR_Nepal enthralled the audience.enthralled the audience," read another post from the same handle.

Over the years, the number of scholarship awardees has increased 4 times to 200. Under this scholarship scheme, an MBBS/BDS student receives Nepali Rupees (NRs) 4000 per month for five years, a BE student receives NRs 4000 per month for four years, and a student studying in other undergraduate courses like BA, BEd, B Pharmacy, BSc Agriculture, BBA, BBM and BBS receives NRs 3000 per month for three years, according to the Indian Embassy in Kathmandu press release.

More than 3300 Nepali students from all the 77 districts of Nepal have benefitted from this scholarship scheme. The current batch of scholarship awardees are from 76 districts of Nepal, with 32 per cent being girls. Five specially-abled students have also been selected this year under the Golden Jubilee Scholarship Scheme, according to the press release.

The Union government provides around 1600 scholarships in medicine, engineering, dental science, management, Ayurveda arts, commerce, science, nursing, Ayurveda, dance, theatre, performing arts and many other disciplines, both in the undergraduate and graduate streams, to study in universities in Nepal and in India.

Since 2001, 38,000 Nepalese students have been direct beneficiaries of the Indian government's scholarships.

India and Nepal are close and friendly neighbours and have a long-standing partnership in the field of education and capacity building, the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) stated earlier.

According to the press release, the scholarships and capacity building programmes form an integral part of India's effort to partner in the human resource development of Nepal for its overall socio-economic benefit of the region. (ANI)