Jharkhand picks 6 tribal students to sponsor their education overseas

RANCHI: The Jharkhand government has shortlisted six tribal students from the state to help them pursue their higher studies in universities located across the globe under its ambitious Marang Gomke Jaipal Singh Munda Scholarship programme, which was announced last year.
Officials said the six students were shortlisted in the first phase of the scholarship programme and they would be admitted to five universities located in the United Kingdom.
Under the programme, the government had proposed to sponsor 10 tribal students per year, covering their tuition fees, journey fares and other expenses while pursuing their Masters or higher degrees in foreign universities.
In the next phases, students from the SC community are also likely to be included.
In a statement, chief minister Hemant Soren said the scholarship was named in honour of Marang Gomke Jaipal Singh Munda, who was the first tribal student to study at the Oxford University in England between 1922 and 1929.
“Later, Munda captained the Indian Hockey team at the 1928 Amsterdam Olympic Games and went on to win the gold medal for the country. Almost 100 years later, we announced the scholarship in memory and honour of the legendary tribal icon to support tribal students while pursuing higher studies abroad. This is the first such scheme in the country where a state is giving scholarships to students of the tribal society to study abroad. We hope that in the coming days, other students will also get inspired from them,” his statement reads.