New Delhi: The livelihood of certain people often depends on the benevolence of others. This is why the news of Shishu Sarothi lending a hand to the less privileged warmed the hearts of many. Shishu Sarothi is offering scholarships to children with disabilities, in a bid to help them explore their potentials and live their dreams.
Disabilities have, for centuries, seemed like a major limitation to many people’s hopes and dreams. For students in the Northeastern part of India with disabilities, it may seem like the end of the road in their educational journey, especially for students from poor families. These students are sometimes hindered from pursuing higher education either because of inadequate finance or the neglect witnessed on the part of government.
Most scholarship platforms are not beneficial to students with disabilities, but things are about to change for the better. Guwahati-based Shishu Sarothi is a centre for total rehabilitation and intensive training for people with multiple disabilities. The rights-based, non-profit organisation recently announced the launch of a scholarship programme for the disabled.
This scholarship comes as a result of the organisation’s partnership with Bharti Infratel Ltd. This partnership stems from a mutual desire to give back to students who are not so privileged, physically and financially. The Bharti Infratel Scholarship Programme (BISP) has a target reach of 120 students with disabilities. The programme is exclusively for students in Northeast India.
However, physically challenged students who are not from the Northeastern part of the country but get their education there can also have a chance of being selected. This scholarship programme will take care of the financial requirements of selected students, thereby giving them the space to focus on more important things. In addition, some students will be supported with certain academic tools like study materials, hostel fees and conveyance allowance for additional motivation as well as other equipment and materials that will help make their learning easier.
The total number of beneficiaries for the 2020/2021 scholarship programme is 120. These students once selected will be sponsored throughout their course. Shishu Sarothi took it a step further by collaborating with organisations in over the eight states in the Northeastern region; Manipur, Meghalaya, Arunachal Pradesh, Mizoram, Tipura, Sikkim, and Nagaland. The main purpose of this partnership is for support for candidate application, mentoring and keeping a close eye on the students locally.
Launched in 2016, BISP, which is an extension of Bharti Infratel Ltd, was created to promote inclusion in professional mainstream training and education. Once launched, the first phase of this initiative was successful in reaching over 196 students from across all the states in the Northeastern part of India. Phase One offered these students an opportunity to pursue their dream of getting higher education. The support offered was as much as Rs 50 lakh within a period of five years.
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In Phase Two, BISP aims to take it a step further by reaching over 600 students within a five year period. This will be done annually in stages comprising 120 students every year for five years. In addition to offering financial support to the scholars, they are also helping the students through career counseling sessions, internships, job preparedness, and rights awareness programmes in each state of the Northeast.
These programmes are organised to inspire, motivate and propel these special students forward towards their life’s ambition. BISP aims to give these students a boost in their pursuit for quality education and in their journey towards empowering themselves economically.
Application for this scholarship programme for the 2020/2021 session can proceed to their website (bisp.shishusarothi.org) to get more details on application. The deadline for application is the September 10, 2020. Applicants can also reach the helpline on +91 70862 68549 for additional information. The helpline is active from 10 am to 5 pm on working days.
