The Banaras Hindu University (BHU) will be offering a new scholarship for students pursuing their first year of Bachelor of Medicine, Bachelor of Surgery (MBBS). The university plans to launch this scholarship for meritorious students, especially for those belonging to the economically weaker background of the first year MBBS. Selected students will receive Rs 25,000, as a part of the scholarship.

The idea behind this scholarship is to help and support meritorious students coming from financially weaker backgrounds. This scholarship aims to help deserving candidates who aspire to become doctors, aiming to relieve their financial constraints.

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The donation for candidates has been made under the recently launched Pratidana scheme. This scheme aims to increase student access to resources, boost research infrastructure, and enhance the university’s teaching-learning environment. The Pratidana initiative was launched by BHU Vice-Chancellor Sudhir Kumar Jain.

Dr Ramesh Chandra Gupta, former head of department of Metallurgical Engineering at IT-BHU (now IIT BHU), has donated Rs 5 lakh to the varsity. “The new scholarship scheme Dr. Bhoj Raj Varma and Smt. Shanti Varma Memorial Scholarship is named after the close relatives of Gupta,” stated an official notice released by BHU.

Meanwhile, the university earlier received a donation of Rs 10 lakh to institute two scholarships for Masters of Arts (MA) Hindi candidates on merit-cum-means basis. One male candidate and one female student will be offered the MA Hindi scholarship, reports add. The new scholarships are to be named after Late Pt Ganga Ratan Pandey and his wife Jagrani Pandey. The donation was given by their sons Arun Pandey and Prakash Pandey to pay homage to their parents.

Pt Ganga Ratan Pandey was a former student of BHU, who completed his bachelor’s and master’s degree from the renowned university. In 1942, when he was pursuing his MA Hindi, he was jailed for participating in the Quit India Movement. Ratan Pandey was a trusted follower of educational reformer and politician – Pandit Madan Mohan Malaviya. In order to raise charitable funds for the university, Ratan Pandey actively took part in several fundraising events. As a writer, he made a significant contribution to Hindi literature. He wrote several publications including short story collections, poetry, drama, historical fiction, and songs. Ratan Pandey also translated a number of books on subjects like political science, international affairs, and education.