Fund released for Nehru-Wangchuck Scholarship- August 10, 2016

The Royal Civil Service Commission received a sum of Nu. 15 million for the “Nehru-Wangchuck Scholarship” from the Government of India (GoI). The cheque was handed over by His Excellency, Shri Jaideep Sarkar, the Ambassador of India to Bhutan to Dasho Karma Tshiteem, the Chairman of the Royal Civil Service Commission (RCSC) today, on 10^th August 2016 at RCSC, Thimphu.
    
The “Nehru-Wangchuck Scholarship” is a prestigious scholarship programme that demonstrates the special relationship between the two countries by providing opportunities for Bhutan’s best and the brightest people to study in premier Indian Institutes. In particular, this is expected to develop human resource capacities in areas critical to Bhutan’s development.

The Nehru-Wangchuck Scholarship was instituted on 19^th June 2009 with the signing of Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between the Royal Government of Bhutan and the Government of India in Thimphu. The duration of the MoU for 1^st phase of the scholarship was for five years which ended in June 2014. During this phase, a total of 39 Bhutanese were awarded this prestigious scholarship and they underwent various long-term trainings in India.

Then it was renewed for another five years commencing June 2014. In the same year, following the historic visit of Hon’ble Prime Minister of India, Shri Narendra Modi to Bhutan, the budget outlay for Nehru-Wangchuck Scholarship was doubled from Nu. 10 million to Nu. 20 million per year. Accordingly, the selection criteria for this scholarship was also revised and the monthly stipend was increased from Nu. 25,000 to Nu. 50,000 per month and the establishment allowance was also doubled from Nu. 5,000 to Nu. 10,000. This was done to enhance the prestige and attractiveness of the scholarship. So far, 35 Bhutanese were awarded this prestigious scholarship under the revised scheme of 2^nd phase of the scholarship. They pursue various Master’s Degree in the premier Indian Institutes such as the IIT Gandhinagar, University of Madras, Vellore Institute of Technology, Symbiosis International University, O. P. Jindal Global University, etc.

Besides civil servants, the Nehru-Wangchuck Scholarship is also made available to private and corporate sectors including Royal University of Bhutan (RUB) through the Department of Human Resources, Ministry of Labour & Human Resources.