Bhubaneswar: Vedanta Limited has announced Odisha's 'Young Achievers Scholarship Programme' to minimise the financial burden on students intending to pursue graduate courses in medical, engineering and science.
As many as 100 scholarships will be awarded every year under the merit-cum-means scholarship programme which was announced at a function here last night.
Odisha's Minister for Food Supplies and Consumer Welfare, Sanjay Kumar Das Burma, present on the occasion as chief guest, said it was a noble initiative by a corporate which will help students aspiring for higher studies.
He expected more such initiatives to come from the organisation to help the state's education system.
Vedanta's initiatives for promoting education in the tribal areas is a great effort and the company should continue such good work, Deputy Speaker of Odisha Assembly Sananda Marandi said.
CEO, Aluminium, Vedanta Ltd, Abhijit Pati said the company has been promoting quality primary education in the vicinity of its plants at Jharsuguda and Lanjigarh through initiatives like Vedanta Vidyarthi Vikas Yojna and Vedanta DAV International School.
"For the first time we have come up with a pan-Odisha initiative to help meritorious students from economically weaker sections pursue graduate courses. We expect the initiative to go a long way in helping the youth of Odisha to pursue their dreams, he said.
President Vedanta University Project B K Patnaik said the scheme looks forward to promote girls' education by reserving 50 per cent scholarships for girls and dedicating the scholarship for economically weaker section of the society.
Students opting for Graduate courses in Medical or Engineering will be awarded an amount of Rs 30,000/- per year for 5 and 4 years respectively. Similarly, students opting for Bachelor's Degree in Science will be awarded Rs 20,000/- per year for three years.
Applications will be subject to the economic criteria that annual parental income of the student should not exceed Rs.2.50 lakh.
Utkal University Vice-Chancellor Asoka Das was also present.
