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LATEST
NEWS |
15th
February 2010 / Times of India / Ahmedabad Edition
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 MIT, IIM grads vie for Modi fellowship
Gandhinagar: Some of the best brains from across the globe are vying for the fellowship programme launched by Gujarat chief minister Narendra Modi about four months ago. After sifting through 2,000 applications received initially for the Chief Ministers Fellowship Program , officials have narrowed the race down to 100.
Among the top contenders are graduates of Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), IIM-Ahmedabad , IIT-Kharagpur , doctors, software professionals and executives of multinationals. The MIT graduate is working as a techie in Bangalore.
The chief ministers office (CMO) is hoping to select at least 30 fellows who will work on specially designed Swarnim Gujarat projects. They will take a one-year break from their highpaying jobs and receive a stipend of less than Rs 20,000 every month.
About 20 projects have been finalised by various government departments for the fellows to take up. Most of these relate to the social sector like public health, education, rural development, and tribal development . The focus would be on e-governance , technology, service delivery and reaching out to the rural populace , an official said. While most applications are from Gujarat and youngsters of Gujarati origin living in different countries, there are young non-Gujaratis in the list as well. Of the 10 applications from abroad, seven have no links to Gujarat. We have BTech, MTech, MBBS, MD, MS and software professionals applying to get in, said an official. We had put conditions like minimum qualification and two years work experience.
As part of the final selection process, principal secretaries of various departments will interview the candidates. Barely about one per cent of the applicants become fellows , another official told TOI. Officials said that apart from Gujarat government, only Reserve Bank of India and Planning Commission have similar fellowships for youth.
Sources in BJP said the fellowship is an attempt to counter Rahul Gandhis attempts to galvanise the youth across the country and revive Youth Congress. These fellows would become Modis best spokespersons after a year, a BJP leader said.
BRAIN GAIN
IIT grads, doctors, IT professionals among applicants Will work for a year on a stipend of below Rs 20K
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