IIT Kharagpur To Offer Full Scholarship For SAARC Students Under New Programme By US-Based Industrialist

A full scholarship programme for students from the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) is being launched by the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Kharagpur, reports Economic Times.

The programme will be open to full-time students across all levels - undergraduate, postgraduate and doctoral studies - from Bhutan, Bangladesh, Nepal, Maldives and Sri Lanka.

According to the report, the institute, starting this month, will reach out to universities and embassies of these countries directly as well as through the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) for 2019 enrolment.

The institute will induct 10 students in the first batch of the programme with funding from IIT Kharagpur alumnus and United States-based petrochemical industrialist Asoke Dey Sarkar.

As per the report, the first edition of the programme, named as Asoke Dey Sarkar International Program or ADSIP, will provide funding for the airfare, tution fee, living expenses, local transportation as well as medical insurance of the students.

“SAARC nations share a common heritage. We would like to know how students in neighbouring countries are gearing up to face the new challenges, what new things they are learning, what solutions they are coming up with,” dean of international relations at IIT Kharagpur, Baidurya Bhattacharya, was quoted in the report as saying.