Dubai: The Indian Ministry of External Affairs has announced a Scholarship Programme for Diaspora Children (SPDC) for the academic year 2018-19. 

The scheme is applicable to children of Non-resident Indians (NRI) and Persons of Indian Origin from 66 select countries, including the UAE, the Indian Consulate in Dubai said in a press release on Thursday. 

“The scheme is applicable to children of persons of Indian origin; children of non-resident Indians; children [studying abroad or studying in India] of Indian workers working in ECR [Emigration Clearance Required] countries,” the mission stated. 

ECR countries for blue collar workers include the GCC countries. 

Who is eligible?

Students who are in the age group of 17-21 years as on 01.10.2018 and who have passed Senior Secondary (10+2) or equivalent examination with minimum of 60 per cent marks or equivalent grades in aggregate of all the subjects are eligible for the scheme, the government notification said.

After obtaining admission to eligible course, the candidates fulfilling the eligibility criteria can submit the online application form on the SPDC portal, spdcindia.gov.in . 

The last date for submitting the online application form is September 30.

SPDC aims at providing financial assistance to the needy children of some specific categories to assist them in pursuing specific professional and non professional undergraduate courses in Indian universities and institutes.

What's not up for grabs?

However, medical and related courses are not included in the scheme. 

Under the scheme, Government of India will provide partial financial assistance to the extent of 75 per cent of the total institutional economic cost (IEC) to the eligible students.

IEC includes tuition fees, admission fees, hostel charges (excluding food charges) and other institutional charges. 

The assistance is capped at $4,000 (Dh14,692) per annum. 

It is stipulated that the scheme would apply only to children of parents whose monthly income is less than $4,000 or its equivalent. 

To ensure that the government assistance reaches the maximum number of students, candidates availing scholarship/financial assistance/any other assistance under any other scheme sponsored by State/Central Government shall not be eligible for assistance under SPDC.