IAS, IPS selected for British government-funded Chevening Gurukul Scholarship for Leadership and Excellence

INDIAN bureaucrats have clinched five out of 12 berths of this year’s prestigious Chevening Gurukul Scholarship for Leadership and Excellence, awarded by the British government for a 12-week-long course in London School of Economics (LSE). The scholarship, which includes full programme fees, living expenses, return airfare from India to the UK and UK student visa fees, is one of the most sought after scholarships even among senior executives of India Inc.

Only in January this year, the ministry of home affairs (MHA) lifted the three-year-old restriction of Indian government employees applying for Chevening scholarship. Those who were selected for the Gurukul Award are Dinesh Arora, a 2002 batch Kerala cadre IAS and Kerala’s Mission Director of NRHM and MD of Kerala Medical Services Corp. Ltd., Arvind Kumar, director in the department of food and public distribution, Delhi, Bandana Preyashi, urban development and housing department (director), Govt of Bihar, Anup Kuruvilla John, 2004 batch Kerala cadre IPS and Superintendent of Police, Kannur, and Alok Tandon, CMD, UP Power Generation Company.

These government officers who were selected from about 1500 applicants from all over the country will now be a part of 12 outstanding future leaders including Lok Sabha MP Madhu Goud Yaskhi, Microsoft India chairman Ravi Venkatesan and Acumen Funds’ CEO Varun Sahni, who will also be attending the programme in LSE.

Significantly, 1993 batch IAS Sanjay Dubey, who recently won the prestigious PM’s award for excellence during the last Civil Servants Day, was a Gurukul scholar of 2005 batch.

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Action and Appointments

a) P Uma Shanker, a 1976 batch UP cadre IAS and presently CMD, Rural Electrification Corporation Limited, has been appointed as power secretary in place of Harishankar Brahma, a 1975 batch AP cadre IAS who retired on April 30, 2010.

b) The ACC has approved the assignment of additional charge of the post of Commissioner of Security, civil aviation in the Bureau of Civil Aviation Security (BCAS), to Rohit Nandan, a 1982 batch UP cadre IAS and joint secretary in the ministry of civil aviation for a period of six months.

c) Arun Kumar Misra, a 1976 batch UP cadre IAS and presently Adviser, Planning Commission has been appointed as Principal Adviser, Planning Commission.

d) The ACRs pertaining to Amaitabh Kant as CEO, DMICDC will be written and reviewed by Secretary, Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion (DIPP) and accepted by the minister of commerce and industry.

e) Deo Dutt Sharma, a 1984 batch Jharkhand cadre IFS has been appointed as joint secretary, in the department of Ayurveda, Yoga and Naturopathy, Unani, Siddha and Homoeopathy.

f) The ACC has approved the proposal for the extension of inter-cadre deputation tenure of Vineet Vinayak, a 1995 batch Sikkim cadre IPS from Sikkim to Bihar.

g) IPS officer Vipul Agrawal was arrested in Tulsi Prajapati encounter case, according to Gujarat CID chief VV Rabari.

Study In UK: India’s home ministry lifts ban on bureaucrats applying for British government-funded Chevening scholarship

GOOD news for Indian bureaucrats eying for the prestigious British government-funded Chevening scholarship. Nearly three years after Indian government employees were banned from taking Chevening scholarship offered by the British High Commission, the ministry of home affairs (MHA) in a circular dated January 19, 2010, lifted the restriction thereby widening the scope of Indian bureaucrats to grab fully-funded courses in British Universities as well.

“The Ministry of Home Affairs has now decided to lift the restriction imposed on the grant of permission under Section 9 of FCRA for accepting foreign hospitality offered by the Chevening Fellowship,” the circular said. The official letters were issued to chief secretaries of all states and secretaries of ministries and departments of government of India.

Significantly, in a related development, the government in September, 2009, had issued a circular saying that no officer was allowed to raise fund or ask for contribution from any source to finance his or her study if prior government permission was not obtained. The notice came in the backdrop of detection of a few cases where officers had negotiated or taken financial assistance from private bodies and other domestic organizations, not known to sponsor study programmes, for financing their study programmes, without the previous knowledge of the government.

In fact, the Chevening scholarships are among the top scholarship schemes in the world which allow over 1000 scholars from around the world to study in UK.

Still have any confusion? Just pick up the phone to call Ritika Kochhar, Head, Chevening Scholarships, British High Commission, Chanakyapuri, New Delhi -- 21; Phone: 011-24192180, or mail her at: Ritika.Kochhar@fco.gov.uk

Actual CIRCULAR, dated January 19, 2010 on permission for availing Chevening
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