Johnson Cherian.
A total of 300 economically backward Muslim students would be awarded the Narendra Modi Scholarship on the Prime Minister’s 67th birthday on September 17, the Forum for Muslim Studies and Analysis (FMSA) announced on Tuesday.
The scholarship was constituted by the FMSA, an Aligarh-based group of Muslim intellectuals, in May last year.
Empowerment
Jasim Mohammad, the director of the FMSA, said: “The 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.”
Last year, a total of 100 students were awarded the scholarship of ₹5,000. But, given the enthusiastic response it received, the FMSA decided to increase the number of beneficiaries to 300.
Forms available online
“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 ₹3,000 and increase the number of beneficiaries to 300,” said Mr. Mohammad.
He added that the aim of the scholarship was to “carry forward the commitment of the Prime Minister to Sab Ka Saath, Sab Ka Vikas”.
Last date
The form for the scholarship has been uploaded on www.jasim.org. Students of classes XI, XII, graduation and post-graduation are eligible to apply. The last date for submitting the form is September 10.
Mr. Mohammad shot to the limelight when he wrote the first-ever biography of the Prime Minister, titled Narendra Bhai Modi — Farsh Se Arsh Tak, in Urdu. The first volume of the proposed five-volume biography was launched by Mr. Modi on May 10 last year.
