The Cantonment Board, St Thomas Mount, the second oldest and one of the 62 cantonments in India, has instituted the ‘Kalvi Udavi’ scheme for the underprivileged students for pursuing higher studies.
Out of 1,394 applicants 471 have been selected for the scholarship based on comprehensive screening by the scholarship committee headed by V Manoharan, vice president of the board.
The scholarship provides each student, per academic year, Rs 10,000 for MBBS and BDS, Rs 8,000 for BE and B Tech, Rs 8,000 for nursing, Rs 5,000 for PG courses, Rs 4,000 for lTI, diploma, Rs 3,000 for UG Science, Rs 2,000 for UG Arts, Rs 2,000 for correspondence courses and Rs 500 for HSC.
Among the 471 beneficiaries 258 (54 per cent) are girl students, 44 per cent slum dwellers, 41 per cent belong to SC/ST, 49 per cent to OBC and 66 students are children of widows or destitute women. The Cantonment Board will invest Rs 11 lakh every academic year beginning from this year towards the scholarship fund. The Defence Estates Department will expand the scheme in other cantonments in future.