Project Dhananjay: CAN Foundation announces monthly stipend project for NLU students from economically weaker families [Applications open]

The Confederation of Alumni for National Law Universities (CAN) Foundation has announced the launch of a flagship project aimed to aid new entrants from economically weaker backgrounds to a career of litigation.

To this end, the Foundation proposes to choose ten meritorious final year students from National Law Universities (NLUs) for the grant of a monthly stipend as a "sustenance allowance" for the first year of their legal practice.

Update: Applications can now also be sent by law graduates who have passed out after April 2018, in addition to students currently pursuing law degrees. A revised application for such recent law graduates is available. The last date to apply is February 12.

As stated in a press release issued by the CAN Foundation,

"Project Dhananjay is essentially about providing an ‘incubatory period’ to budding, meritorious law graduates (from Economically Weaker Families), who have the potential to raise the standards of Bar in multiple ways… Dhananjay’s initial incubatory support to budding law graduates is aimed at dispelling their apprehension and anxieties of uncertain and risky path of litigation."

The scholars will be selected by a High Powered Expert Panel after a month long two-tier selection process.

The screening committee for tier 1 round of selection would comprise Advocates Amalpushp Shroti, Arjun Harkauli, T Singh Deo, Rishad Ahmed Chowdhury and Mrigank Prabhakar.

Following tier 1 selection, a high powered selection panel will choose the Project Dhananjay scholars. This Interview and selection panel will consist of former Chief Justice of India, Dipak Misra; Prof (Dr) V Vijayakumar (President of the CLAT consortium of NLUs); Senior Advocate Gopal Sankaranarayanan; and Sumeet Malik (Editor of SCC Online and EBC Group).

Interested candidates are required to send in their applications latest by 5 pm on February 5, 2020. The application forms (available below and on the CAN Foundation website) should be sent (with all annexures) in PDF from to the official email ID of the CAN foundation as mentioned on its website.

To visit the CAN Foundation website, for more details regarding the application process, eligibility etc., click here.

[To view the application Form, see below]

[View the Project Brochure]