The Rajasthan Government has made provisions of Rs 215 crore for the current financial year to support a scholarship scheme to help meritorious students pursue their studies at the top foreign and Indian universities.. The scheme, which is now being named as the Swami Vivekananda Scholarship for Academic Excellence, was instituted earlier by the then Congress government as the Rajiv Gandhi Scholarship for Academic Excellence.

Objectives and Eligibility The scholarship program will primarily undertake the task of providing financial backing to students from Rajasthan who wish to pursue undergraduate, postgraduate, Ph.D., and post-doctoral research programs at globally recognized universities ranked 1-150 according to the Times Higher Education ranking and the top 50 institutions in India according to the National Institutional Ranking Framework

The scholarship program is for expenses toward living, tuition fees, and other academic expenses. The students are divided into three groups with different family incomes: E1 with less than Rs 8 lakh per annum, E2 with family income of between Rs 8 lakh and Rs 25 lakh per annum, and E3 with more than Rs 25 lakh per year. Accordingly, these categories enjoy different benefits under the scheme.

Benefits and Categories In the case of students admitted to the E1 category, the scholarship will provide a maximum package of Rs 50 lakh towards tuition fees. Moreover, one-time advance of Rs 3 lakh shall be provided for getting settled initially. So that the scholars can pursue studies with a free mind, free from financial burdens, the scholarship further provides Rs 1 lakh per month towards their living expenses.

Under the E2 category, state government either pays 85 per cent of tuition fees or gives a maximum of Rs 42.5 lakh, whichever is less. The students falling under the E3 category get Rs 35 lakh or 70 per cent of tuition fees, whichever is less.

Previous Years’ Allocation and Impact In the financial year 2021-22, when it was launched, 73 students benefited from the scheme, and more than Rs 5 crore was given to it. For the year 2023-24, the state government spent over Rs 107 crore on this scheme, and the number of beneficiaries shot up to 372.

Conclusion: The state government of Rajasthan introduced, now called the Swami Vivekananda Scholarship for Academic Excellence (SVS), a scholarship aimed at providing financial support to meritorious students from the state of Rajasthan for pursuing their studies in top foreign and Indian Universities. Maintenance, tuition fee, and other academic expenses are included under this scheme. The benefit under this scheme differs according to the family category of the student’s income.