Rs 75,000 PM Scholarship to retain 'best minds' soon: Javadekar

Human Resource Development (HRD) Minister Prakash Javadekar on Thursday said there will soon be a 'Prime Minister scholarship' under which Rs 75,000 per month will be given to the best 1,000 talented students.

"We are starting the PM Scholarship, a note will go to the Cabinet soon... (under which) best 1,000 talented students will get Rs 75,000 per month now," he said while addressing the convocation ceremony at Manipal University in Jaipur.

Javadekar said there were three reasons contributing to the 'brain drain' in the country.

"I always wonder why our best of the best brains go to foreign countries - because they have three difficulties here. First, in foreign countries they get best of the best research labs, then they get best of the scholarships so they can survive and maintain themselves, and then they get the best guidance.

"Now we are bringing all these three things together," he said.

The Minister also said that with Higher Education Financing Agency (HEFA), they are leveraging Rs 20,000 crore which will be used in extending loans to the educational institutes "for creating research infrastructure here".

"So, we will have the best research infrastructure here also, so don't go there, come here for research," he added.

--IANS

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