High Commission of India

Lilongwe, Malawi

Scholarship Programme for Diaspora Children (SPDC), 2017

The Government of India has a Scholarship Programme for Diaspora Children (SPDC) Scheme which was previously applicable to NRIs & PIOs of 40 countries for undergraduate studies, the Scheme has been revamped and the revised guidelines are attached. Recently, this scheme has been revamped as highlighted below:-

1. 1) SPDC is now applicable to 66 countries (including Malawi)
   
   
2. 2) The scheme is now applicable to four categories of applicants:
1. i) Persons of Indian Origin
2. ii) Non-Resident of Indians
3. iii) Children of Indian workers working in ECR countries
4. iv) Children of Indian workers in ECR countries – studying in India
   
   
3. 3) The number of scholarships has been increased from 100 to 150, out of which 50 seats are reserved for (c) and (d) respectively.
   
   
4. 4) iv)The institutions that are covered under this scheme are:
   
   
5. 5) NITs, IIITs, Schools of Planning and Architecture
   
   
6. 6) ‘A’ Grade institutions accredited by NAAC and recognised by UGC
   
   
7. 7) Other institutions covered under DASA scheme.
   
   
8. 8) Income criteria is now applicable to all four categories.
   
   
9. 9) Children of PIO/OCI/NRI who have not passed the qualifying examination (12th) from a foreign country except in the case of children of ECR country workers (category d above), are not eligible for SPDC.
   
   
10. 10) Cut-off date to decide the NRI status is last date of the preceding financial year i.e. 31.03.2017.
    
    
11. 11) Applicants should attach the conversion scale so that grade achieved in qualifying exam (Grade 12th) could be converted into percentage of marks achieved, wherever required.
    
    
12. 12) For income proof, in addition to the salary certificate from the employer, an undertaking that total monthly income of both the parents does not exceed US$ 4000 should also be uploaded in the SPDC portal.
    
    
13. 13) Applicants will seek scholarships after they obtain admission in the approved list of educational institutions

Ministry has developed a portal for SPDC with domain “spdcindia.gov.in” which will enable online submission of application, processing and an alumni network. Applicants can submit applications online. In earlier guidelines issued about SPDC Scheme.

For more information in this regard, interested candidates may contact Nodal Officer for SPDC Scheme. Mr Mahender, Attaché (Education) Contact details are as follows:

Mr.Mahender Kumar, Attaché (Education),
High Commission of India, Lilongwe (Malawi)
Tele No.: (00-265) 1755941, E-mail ID:   itec.malawi@mea.gov.in

Last date for submission of application for SPDC-2017 has been extended till 31 October 2017to provide adequate time for submission of documents. Eligible candidates may take advantage of the extended deadline and submit their application on SDPC Portal (http://spdcindia.gov.in).

Guidelines of SPDC 2017.

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