Maharashtra Govt approves foreign scholarships for 75 minority students

The Maharashtra government has approved scholarships for 75 students from minority communities to pursue higher studies in reputed foreign universities. Among the grantees, 67 will pursue post graduation while the remaining seven will pursue doctoral research, officials familiar with the matter told Hindustan Times.

The state minority development department approved scholarships for 75 applicants on November 20, officials said.

The scheme for annual scholarships to 75 minority students who had secured admission to universities ranked within the top 200 in the QS World Rankings was announced two years ago. But only 24 students were granted the scholarship during the first year, that is 2024-25, as approval for implementing the scheme was received late, officials said. Among the 24 chosen candidates, 22 students had availed benefits, the officials added.

“This year, we received applications from 149 students, among whom 109 were found eligible for the scheme,” a senior official from the minority department told Hindustan Times.

The applications were scrutinised by a selection committee headed by the secretary of the minority department and secretaries from higher and technical education, social justice, and school education departments, after which 75 applicants were selected.

"Since the scheme is limited to 75 students, the remaining 34 students found eligible have been placed on the waiting list," said the senior official quoted earlier.

The tuition fees, living expenses, and other associated costs are covered by the scholarship scheme, and students need to complete their studies within the stipulated time.

The selected students under the scheme this year will attend universities including University College Landon, University of Sydney, Australia, University of Bristol, United Kingdom, University of Auckland, New Zealand, University of California, USA, University of Chicago, The Australian National University, Johns Hopkins University, USA, Monash University, Australia, The University of Queensland, Australia, New York University, Delft University of Technology, Netherlands amongst others.