₹75,000 monthly scholarship for IIT students proposed

MUMBAI: The government will raise ~20,000 crore for the higher education financing agency announcedinthepreviousbudget inthreeyearsthroughdebtinstruments, human resource developmentministerPrakashJavadekar said after an IIT council meeting at theIndianInstituteofTechnologyBombay on Friday.

The council proposed a monthly ~75,000 Prime Minister Scholarship Scheme for select students who are good at research and innovation. The proposal will have to be cleared by the Union cabinet before it can come into effect.

Concerned about suicides at the IITs, the council said it would create wellness centres to help students cope with exam-related stress. “These centres will focus on holistic well-being of students, taking care of their physical and mental health. The students will be encouraged to seek help from counsellors,” the source said.

The council, which consists of directors of all 23 IITs and is headed by the HRD minister, has decided to hire more counsellors and psychiatrists on the campus to help students, a source in IITBombay said.

Javadekar said the government would allocate ~2,000 crore for the higher education financing agency in two years.