The University Grants Commission (UGC) recently announced that three national fellowship schemes had been transferred to concerned ministries. The official notice was uploaded by the Commission on the official UGC website – ugc.ac.in.
“It is known to all parties involved that UGC only adopted these plans until September 30, 2022. As of October 1, 2022, the programmes are being directly implemented by the involved ministries. The following Agencies/Ministries should receive any future correspondence in this regard from all stakeholders”, as stated in the official notification.
The National Fellowship for SC (NFSC) and the National Fellowship for OBC have now been transferred to the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment, according to the official notice. The Ministry of Minority Affairs has also received the Maulana Azad National Fellowship.
National Scheduled Cast Finance and Development Corporation is the nodal organisation for NFSC, and National Backward Classes Finance and Development Corporation is the nodal organisation for NFOBC.
Candidates from scheduled castes who are pursuing advanced degrees in the humanities, social sciences, engineering, and technology are eligible for the National Fellowship for SC (NFSC). Under this scholarship, 2000 seats are available for all topics.
Similarly to that, individuals from Other Backward Classes (OBC) who are pursuing higher education are eligible for the National Fellowship for OBC. Every year, 300 fellowship positions are available across all subjects.
Students from the following six designated minority communities are eligible for the Maulana Azad National Fellowship, which offers five-year fellowships in the form of financial aid: Buddhist, Christian, Jain, Muslim, Parsi, and Sikh.
(Source: Indian Express)
