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According to reports, the International Fellowships Programme, which is being provided by Ford Foundation of the US, will be provided till 2010 only.
"The IFP was launched in 2001 to broaden access to higher education and help build a new generation of leaders hailing from various groups and communities that lack access to quality in high education," Vivek Mansukhani, the director of IFP, said.
He was in Varanasi for the announcement of the last list of IFP candidates.
"A fund of $355 million has been granted by the foundation for over 10 years and the programme offers fellowships across 22 countries in Asia, Africa, Latin America and the Middle East. The year 2010 will be the last time that we select IFP fellows," Mansukhani told. IFP provides the selected candidates to pursue advanced studies for three years.
"We will be approaching the government of India and voluntary organisations to arrange funds to continue this developmental programme. Our conscious aim will be to keep IFP surviving and for this we are also in touch with our alumni," Mansukhani added.
The last set of applications were received from Indians who live and work in the following Indian states - Jammu and Kashmir, Chhattisgarh, Gujarat, Bihar, Madhya Pradesh, Jharkhand, Orissa, Uttarakhand, Uttar Pradesh as well as Rajasthan. The minimum requirement for submitting the application is that the person should be a Bachelor’s or Master’s degree holder with a minimum of 55% from a recognized Indian University.
