Some 300 underprivileged Muslim students will be awarded the Narendra Modi Scholarship this year on the Indian premier’s 67th birthday on September 17. The Forum for Muslim Studies and Analysis (FMSA) made the announcement on Tuesday, according to The Hindu.
An Aligarh-based group of Muslim intellectuals, the Forum for Muslim Studies and Analysis (FMSA), constituted the scholarship in May last year.
“The [Indian] Prime Minister is concerned about the problems of the minority community. I constituted the scholarship in his name because it will empower the minority community educationally. Once empowered, these students will make our country proud,” said Director FMSA Jasim Mohammad.
In 2016, some 100 students were awarded the scholarship of $78.20 (INR 5000). However, given the enthusiastic response it received, the FMSA decided to increase the number of beneficiaries to 300 this year.
“Last year, more than 22,000 Muslim students had applied for the scholarship, 16,000 of whom were girls. It only showed the extent of desire among Muslims to study. So, we decided to modify the scholarship amount to INR3,000 [$46.92] and increase the number of beneficiaries to 300,” Mohammad added.
