Overseas scholarship students facing shortage of funds, seek urgent govt aid

Nagpur: Rising inflation and financial crisis in the UK has hit beneficiaries of foreign scholarship hard in the midst of their term in different universities there.
According to NGO The Platform, the students covered under Rajarshi Shahu Maharaj Foreign Education Scholarship of Maharashtra, State Scholarship for Higher Studies by Higher Technical Education Board, Maharashtra, National Overseas Scholarship (NOS) by Central government, and Higher Studies Scholarship of different states are facing acute shortage of funds to meet their living and food cost.
The NGO has moved both the state and central governments seeking immediate relief.
Students, some of them from Nagpur, selected under the scholarship scheme are paid an annual living cost of 9900 GBP (around Rs9.9 Lakh) which comes to 825 GBP (around Rs82,000) per month.
“This is half of the Chevening scholarship, and Commonwealth scholarship (15600 GBP or Rs15.6 lakh per annum) and is very insufficient to survive," the NGO said.
Rahul Chaure, who is pursuing PhD in Clinical Psychology and belongs to Nagpur, said, “The financial crisis and emergency in the UK is terrifying. The Maharashtra government has always been ready for educational progress. We expect the government will understand the crisis that occurred this year and will help students through this.”
A scholar from University of Glassgow, who too is from Nagpur, said paucity of funds has left them frustrated and distracted from studies. “We have been facing difficulties in fulfilling our financial needs from the scholarship amount since Covid. Housing rents have shot up by 50% and it depends on where you live. Many universities are not giving a joining letter to new students unless they find suitable accommodation,” the scholar said.
Another scholar said earlier they used to save 300 GBP from the accommodation funds and used them for food expense. “Now the rent alone is 800 GBP. We have to work part-time. Our studies are getting affected. Our families in India can’t afford to arrange this money,” he said.
The students said other countries have started dearness allowance keeping the inflationary pressures in mind. “Some of us are even in debt after borrowing for survival,” they said.
Rajiv Khobragade, member, The Platform, said, “For the last decade, the state and central governments have kept the same old subsistence allowance for the students studying in many countries on government scholarships. Inflation rises every year by about 6%. The government should consider the ongoing cost of living crisis in the UK. The government should immediately increase the food and living allowance for the students on scholarships and help them tackle this international financial problem.”