Edu department proposes Vivekananda scholarship's inclusion in Duare Sarkar

KOLKATA: The state Higher Education department has proposed the inclusion of Swami Vivekananda Merit-cum-Means Scholarship in the state government's biggest outreach drive Duare Sarkar programme to help students apply for the same at their doorsteps.

This time, the Duare Sarkar Programme will be held from January 2 to 10 and January 20 to 30 in 2022.

In the last Duare Sarkar programme—which was held from August 16 to September 15—there were around 18 state-run schemes, including Lakshmir Bhandar and Krishak Bandhu (New). People have received its facilities at their doorsteps.

Sources said the final decision in regards to the inclusion was yet to be taken. A list of schemes, whose facilities would be available in the Duare Sarkar camps, would be released soon. An official order in this regard would be issued.

The Matsya Kanya Card and Artisan Card will also be included in the Duare Sarkar programme.

The state government had introduced the Swami Vivekananda Merit-Cum-Means scholarship scheme to help meritorious students belonging to economically backward families to pursue higher studies. The scholarship is given at different levels of higher studies.

To help students pursue their studies without any hurdle, recently the state Education minister Bratya Basu also inaugurated Swami Vivekananda Merit-Cum-Means scholarship portal - www.svmcm.wbhed.gov.in.

More than 7.62 lakh students got scholarships under the scheme from 2011 to 2021 and around Rs 1235 crore was given to students as scholarships during the same time period.