CHENNAI: Chief Minister C Joseph Vijay on Wednesday wrote to Union External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar seeking the centre’s urgent intervention to resolve the UK visa and CAS hurdles faced by more than 300 students from marginalised communities selected under the state’s Annal Ambedkar Overseas Scholarship Scheme, the social justice department in a release stated.
With the September intake fast approaching, the students are anxious as the issue over recognition of state government sponsorship is yet to be resolved.
In his letter dated August 19, the CM detailed the difficulties faced by scholarship beneficiaries in obtaining UK student visas/CAS and urged the centre to ensure the scholarship provided by the state government is recognised by UK authorities.
The development comes after the Ministry of External Affairs assured Tamil Nadu that it would extend necessary assistance. According to the release, Apoorva Srivastava, joint secretary (Europe West Division), gave the assurance when the director of Adi Dravidar welfare met her in New Delhi on August 17.
The issue concerns 316 of the 362 students issued sponsorship letters for the 2026-27 academic year who have secured offer letters from UK universities. Institutions including Middlesex University have informed students that only funding from the national government is recognised as official financial sponsorship.