667 scholarships to be given to ST students for M.Phil, Ph.D

New Delhi, Mar 13 (UNI) The government has approved a new Central Sector Scheme for providing fellowships to ST students for enabling them to pursue M.Phil and Ph.D courses, Tribal Affairs Minister P R Kyndiah said today.

He told Rajya Sabha that the Scheme -- Rajiv Gandhi National Fellowship (RGNF) -- will be on the pattern of of the UGC Fellowships awarded to research students. However, for applying under the RGNF scheme, there would be no requirement of minimum marks in post graduatation or prior clearance of NET examination.

The maximum duration of the fellowship is five years and scholarships will be provided to 667 ST students every year.

De-Addiction Centres : A total of 261,877, 194,787 and 172,341 people were admitted to de-addiction centres during 2002-2003, 2003-2004 and 2004-2005 to prevent them from taking drugs, Minister of State for Social Justice and Empowerment Subbulakshmi Jegadeesan said today.

She said in Rajya Sabha that a total of Rs 73.65 crore were spent during the three years on the de-addiction centres.

These include Rs 25.50 crore in 2002-2003, Rs 22.65 crore in 2003-2004 and Rs 25.50 crore in 2004-2005.

There are at present 377 such centres in the country.

UNI RB VD KP1345