Indian Institute of Technology Kharagpur (IIT-KGP) will launch a full scholarship programme for students from the SAARC region. The programme will be open for full-time students across all levels of study, undergraduate, postgraduate and doctoral studies, from Bangladesh, Bhutan, Nepal, the Maldives and Sri Lanka.
Starting this month, the institute will be reaching out to universities and embassies of these countries directly as well as through the Ministry of External Affairs for 2019 enrolment.
In the first batch of the programme, the institute will induct 10 students with funding from Asoke Dey Sarkar, an IIT Kharagpur's alumnus and United States-based petrochemical industrialist.
The first edition of the programme is named as Asoke Dey Sarkar International Program (ADSIP). It will be providing funding for the students’ airfare, tuition fee, living expenses, local transportation as well as medical insurance.
Baidurya Bhattacharya, Dean of International Relations, IIT KGP, said, "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."