The Hindu : New Delhi News : Single Girl Child scholarships presented

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Monday, Nov 21, 2005

New Delhi

New Delhi

Single Girl Child scholarships presented

Staff Reporter

NEW DELHI: Describing the empowerment of women through education as a must for homogenous growth of society, Union Human Resources Development Minister Arjun Singh said the new schemes launched for girls by the Government were a "step towards modernising every segment of society and to understand their problems''.

The Minister made the statement after conferring the Single Girl Child Indira Gandhi Post Graduate merit scholarship on 1,047 university rank holders that was recently introduced by the University Grants Commission (UGC) to encourage parents with a single girl child.

`Source of inspiration'

While urging the awardees to continue fighting for the ideals that former Prime Minister, Indira Gandhi, stood for, Mr. Singh said, "She has been the inspiration behind the schemes to uplift educationally all girls and for the empowerment of women in the country''.

Nearly 1,514 applications had been received following advertisements issued this past October.

Applicable to all girls who are the only child and have taken admission in a master's degree programme in a recognised university or post-graduate college, the scholarship is valid for a period of two years, with 1,200 total scholarships to be granted every year under the UGC Act.

A student who is awarded the post graduate scholarship will not be debarred from accepting other scholarship, but to leave their studies mid-way would need the prior approval of the UGC, failing which students will be required to refund the scholarship amount.

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