The Azim Premji Foundation has announced the Azim Premji Scholarship to support girls pursuing higher education after school.
Girls from Meghalaya and certain other states who have completed their Class 10 and 12 schooling in government (public) schools and who have secured admission in a bona fide higher education institution in a degree or diploma programme are eligible.
Bona fide higher education institutions will include all government institutes and select private ones.
The scholarship is for Rs 30,000 per year for the duration of the degree or diploma programme so long as the recipient continues successfully in the course. The scholarship will be transferred in two installments to the girls’ bank account directly every year and is available for use as needed.
The foundation aims to offer the scholarship to up to 2.5 lakh girls for the 2025-26 academic year.
“Good school education is foundational for life, while higher education changes social and economic prospects in life. Despite the all-around progress India has made, girls continue to confront differential societal and financial hurdles at all levels of education. We are making a significant commitment to support girls to pursue higher education, which will help them gain greater control over their life’s trajectory,” Anurag Behar, CEO of the Azim Premji Foundation, was quoted as saying in a press release today.
The scholarship was launched as a pilot project in 2024-25 in Madhya Pradesh, certain districts of Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan and Jharkhand. More than 25,000 girls received the scholarship in the pilot cycle.
Applications for 2025-26 will begin in September this year. Apart from Meghalaya, girls from Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, Manipur, Mizoram, Nagaland, Odisha, Rajasthan, Sikkim, Telangana, Tripura, Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand are eligible.
Details of the scholarship programme and any changes in the design or coverage will be notified at the start of the application process. The scholarship programme is likely to be expanded to cover the entire country in the coming years, the release added.
