SHREYAS Initiative: Empowering OBC and EBC students through Higher Education scholarships

The Scholarships for Higher Education for Young Achievers Scheme-SHREYAS, proposed for implementation from 2021-22 to 2025-26, aims to replace two existing Central Sector schemes for OBC and other categories:

1.     National Fellowship for OBC

2.     Dr Ambedkar Central Sector Scheme of Interest Subsidy on Educational Loans for Overseas Studies for Other Backward Classes (OBCs) and Economically Backward Classes (EBCs).

The primary objective of these schemes is to empower OBC and EBC students through financial assistance, facilitating their pursuit of quality higher education and providing interest subsidies on educational loans for overseas studies.

The scheme consists of two main components:

Component 1: National Fellowship for OBC Students

It focuses on offering financial assistance to OBC students pursuing higher education, particularly MPhil and PhD degrees, in universities, research institutions, and scientific establishments.

The scheme plans to award 1,000 Junior Research Fellowships annually to students who have qualified in the National Eligibility Test – Junior Research Fellowship (NET-JRF) of UGC (for Humanities/Social Sciences) or UGC-Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (UGC-CSIR) NET-JRF Joint Test (for Sciences).

These fellowships are intended to support advanced studies and research leading to MPhil./PhD degrees. The eligibility criteria encompass all universities and institutions recognized by the University Grants Commission (UGC). The UGC administers the scheme, following the pattern of UGC Fellowships awarded to research students engaged in MPhil and PhD pursuits.

Component 2:  Dr Ambedkar Scheme of Interest Subsidy on Educational Loans for Overseas Studies for Other Backward Classes (OBCs) and Economically Backward Classes (EBCs)

This is a Central Sector Scheme to provide interest subsidy to the student belonging to the OBCs and EBCs on the interest payable for the period of moratorium for the Education Loans for overseas studies to pursue approved courses of studies abroad at Masters, MPhil and PhD level.