VIJAYAWADA: Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy congratulated the five students from the State, who were selected for the Kennedy Lugar Youth Exchange and Study (KL-YES) programme fully funded by the US Department of State for intercultural exchanges.
The quintet from the State were among the 30 students, who were selected for KL-YES from India and all of them are alumni of Andhra Pradesh Social Welfare Residential Educational Institutions Society (APSWREIS)
When the students met him at his camp office on Thursday, Jagan announced `1 lakh financial aid to them. Further, he presented a tab to each of them. He enquired about the family background and education details of the students and directed the authorities to monitor their progress and extend all possible help to them.
The five students were selected from among the 554 applications from the State after tough rounds of filtering and interviews. They include D Naveena from Markapuram in Prakasam district, S Gyaneswara Rao and Roda Evanjili from Visakhapantam, Hashini Baliga from Gooty in Anantapur and Ch Akanksha from Edupugallu in Krishna.
Two students from the State, who were selected last year for the programme and returned from the US, also met the Chief Minister on the occasion. Social Welfare Minister M Nagarjuna was present. During their one-year stay in the US, the students get enrolled in schools. The selected students stay with the host families. They receive a monthly stipend of $200.