Jharkhand govt launches annual scheme for tribal students

In an attempt to revive the century old legacy of one of the supreme tribal leaders, late Jaipal Singh, an Oxonian and a hockey wizard, the Jharkhand Government has launched a scheme to send six adivasi youth to foreign universities for higher studies. This is to be an annual affair and each year tribal students would be sent overseas universities. The entire cost of their studies is to be borne by the State Government itself earmarked under the State Government’s flagship programme ofthe Morang Gomke Jaipal Singh Munda Foeign Scholarship programme named after Jaipal Singh.

The first batch of six students selected for the scholarship was honoured by the Chief Minister, Hemant Soren, himself at the Secretariate building called, project Building yesterday. This is for the first time that programme to sponsor tribal students to pursue higher studies in 15 universities have been inititated by any State Government in the country. The Chief Minister hoped that gradually the scheme would be expanded to include students from other communities too for the overseas studies.

Those who have been selected include Herculus Singh Munda, Akanksha Mery Balmuchu, Anjana Pratima Dingdung,Dinesh Bhagat and Priya Murmu. Whereas Herculus Munda is an engineer from Birla Institute of Technology and has been selected for linguistic studies at School of Oriental and African Studies of the University of London, Akanksha Balmuchu is to pursue M.Sc, course in Climate Change and Management at La Barg University in Great Britan. Dinesh Bhagat has been selected to pursue M.Sc. in Climate Change at University of Warwick . Anjana Dundung too would join the same University while Priya Murmu would be at La Barga to do M.A. in Creative writing.

Meanwhile, the Deputy High Commissioner of Englang, Nick Low, who was invited by the State Government to grace the occasion could not come but send his good wishes and congratulation to the Chief Minister, Hemant Soren , lauding his decision to send tribal students to overseas to pursue higher studies. He said “ I sincerely congratulate you for steering this visionary initiativeto bridge the inequalities of access to higher education faced by marginal communities in India” and added that your leadership and efforts of the State Government of Jharkhand to drive this knowledge partnership between Jharkhand and the United Kingdom deserve the highest praise.

The British Deputy High Commissioner did not mince words to refer to” the legacy of Jaipal Singh and said that it was he who started his Oxford programme a century ago will, I believe, will now be taken forwardboth through this batchof scholars and subsequent beneficiaries”.