Coal India to offer Rs 1 lakh to eligible UPSC aspirants: How to apply?

As part of Centre's 'Mission Karmayogi', the state-owned Coal India is powering a CSR initiative to offer Rs 1 lakh financial assistance to eligible UPSC candidates

Union Minister G Kishan Reddy on Wednesday launched the Nirman portal - Noble Initiative for Rewarding Mains Aspirants of National Civil Services Examination - in New Delhi, which aims to offer Rs 1 lakh to eligible candidates of the UPSC examination.

According to the notification released by the Centre, the initiative is alignmed with the ‘Mission Karmayogi’ and is powered by Coal India Limited as part of its CSR initiative (corporate social responsibility).

“The portal will ensure selection transparency and direct benefits reach the beneficiary,” Reddy said in a post on X.

Who is eligible for the Coal India scheme?

The notification says that the reward will be offered by Coal India for the meritorious youth of “its operating districts who have qualified the preliminary round of UPSC examination (for Civil Services & Forest Service) in 2024.”

The financial support of Rs 1 lakh will be provided to the UPSC examination qualified candidates, who have an annual family income of less than Rs 800,000 and belong to either Scheduled Caste, Scheduled Tribe, female or third gender.

These aspirants need to be permanent residents of any of the 39 operational districts of the company. These include Jharkhand’s Dhanbad and Ranchi, West Bengal’s Kolkata, Chhattisgarh’s Bilaspur and Maharashtra’s Nagpur among others.

How to apply?

The eligible candidates can use the Nirman portal to submit their applications to avail the scheme benefits. The Centre clarified that the whole application process will be done through the dedicated portal in digital format to ensure transparency.

The initiative seeks to boost the academic and employment prospects of underprivileged students from coal-bearing areas.

Coal India is a state-owned coal mining corporation which was launched in 1975. The company holds the title of the single largest coal producer in the world and accounts for 80 per cent of coal produced in India. The company and its subsidiaries operate in eight states of India.