CAN Foundation announces Scholarship support of Rs 25 Lakhs to 30 Scholars under Project Ekalavya

The Confederation of Alumni for National Law Universities (CAN Foundation) has announced the 30 Scholars to avail the Eklavya Scholarship 2020. .The Scholarship Award shall be remitted to the personal accounts of the Eklavya Scholars by October 18, announces its press release..Under Project Eklavya, CAN Foundation seeks to uplift deserving, but underprivileged, students by providing them with an annual scholarship support that facilitates them in attaining a well-rounded education at premier National Law Universities across the country. .The Foundation opened its Call for Applications on August 22, 2020, and received an overwhelming expression of interest from students across NLUs. .The Foundation had in place, a robust Two-Tier Selection Procedure, aimed at maintaining the highest levels of scrutiny and transparency along with adherence to strict eligibility criteria. .It is further informed that while the High-Powered Selection Committee recommended that all the 32 candidates shortlisted by the Tier 1 Scrutiny Committee be awarded financial aid, the Foundation due to the paucity of funds is unable to provide the same. .However, its press release informs that tthe Foundation is in the process of overcoming the fund crunch by raising an additional sum of Rs 2 Lakhs to make sure that the two candidates left out also receive benefits under the ‘Excellence despite Extreme Hardships’ category..Mrigank Prabhakar, Executive Committee Member and Head of Project Eklavya 2020 said,"No deserving student should have to face missed opportunities for inability to pay their fees. That is the vision of Eklavya.”.Meet the Scholars.The Scholars were categorised under 3 categories to ascertain the quantum of financial assistance to be given to them..The first being the ‘Excellence despite Extreme Hardships’ category which involves scholars who have suffered gravely as a consequence of precarious financial positions. Such scholars are categorized by the loss of a parent(s) or in the event that parent(s) are undergoing some serious medical treatments or financial hardships. These candidates have managed their education till now by taking out loans or have tapped in to limited family savings. Such circumstances have thus put them at high risk of a financial crisis but the Scholars have performed exceptionally well for themselves despite such impediments..The Scholars selected under this category this year are Nikhat Jamal, Arjit Kumar, Ayush Sharma, Riddhi Khandelwal, Anshumaan Mishra, Adarsh V, Vikash Kumar Das, Barat Saini, Mayank Bhandari and Nagmani Kumar..These Scholars are being given Scholarship amounts ranging from Rs 2 lakhs to Rs 25,000..The next category is cases of ‘Excellence despite Hardships’ which consists of scholars who have insufficient family income to sustain their education or are facing some other impediment in the seamless pursuit of their education. These are also characterised by the existence of other dependents such as siblings, who also require support for their education..The Scholars selected under this category are Jyotshna Yashaswi, Anamta Khan, Bulbul Kumari, Anwesha Pandey, Medha Dwivedi, Ishaan Gupta, Kumar Mangalam, Manav Sharma, Pradhumna Mohan fixit, Vaibhav Vidhyansh, Ayush Singhal, Vijay Kumar Sherawat, Prateek Khandelwal, Gngesg Aggarwal, Sangam Ghorpade, Ritvik Maheshwari and Sayan Chandra..All of these scholars are to get Rs 75,000 each .The final category is aimed at ‘Rewarding Excellence despite Difficulties’. The candidates shortlisted under this category are recipients of the “Late Prof. (Dr.) Shamnad Basheer Memorial Award For Excellence” which includes a combination of an academic award, as well as financial support and, has been constituted to honour his legacy and vision. .The candidates under this category are shortlisted to encourage and reward their stellar academic record and performance despite financial difficulties in their families. The assistance is to be extended to them as a Token of Encouragement for their resilience in the face of adversity..The Scholars selected under this category, who will each recieve Rs 25,000 are Radhika Sarda, Ayushi Pandit and Ravi Sharma..Further, the SCC-EBC Group have pledged their support to the Eklavya Scholars selected under the “Rewarding Excellence” category. The Group will provide access to books worth 90, 000 approximately to the concerned 3 students..The Selection Process.The Foundation received 51 Applications from the Undergraduate Student Community in NLUs and thus officially began its scrutiny process in the first week of September 2020. .The Tier-1 Scrutiny Committee comprising eminent young legal professionals with at least a decade of experience in the Bar was tasked with the preliminary task of analysing each application on a Merit-cum-Means basis. This Committee shortlisted 32 candidates..The Recommendations of the Tier-1 Scrutiny Committee were deliberated upon by the 3-member High-Powered Selection Committee headed by Justice (Retd.) Kurian Joseph. The other Committee members were Senior Advocate Madhavi Goradia Divan and Senior Advocate Dayan Krishnan..The High-Powered Selection Committee recommended that the Foundation undertake a ‘mentorship scheme’ to all Eklavya scholars to make the transition from a student to a profession one of ease and knowledge..The Minimum Eligibility criterion for attaining the scholarship benefit under Project Eklavya required that the student must be enrolled in the undergraduate programme at any NLU with a minimum of 65% aggregate/average marks in the last three semesters. .The criteria also required that the Annual Cumulative Family Income (of Father, Mother, unmarried brother or sister) should not exceed Rs. 8,00,000 per annum including the current financial year..More details about Project Eklavya can be on their official website - www.canfoundation.in..Read the Press Release:.Read the High Powered Selection Committee's observations: