APPENDIX E (a)- REPORT ON THE WORKING OF THE GOVERNMENT OF INDIA OVERSEAS SCHOLARSHIPS SCHEME.
1. Scope of the Scheme.-The object of the scheme is to produce, as quickly as possible a sufficient number of highly trained persons, likely to be required for various development plans of the Central and Provincial Govts. As it is contemplated that these persons will in due course, rise to key posts, greater importance is attached, in selecting them, to their intellectual attainments and potential ability than to actual practical experience, though practical and research experience is given considerable weight. For the same reason the training arranged is essentially educational, though for most of the courses practical training forms an integral part of the instruction which is arranged. Courses of instruction a broad are arranged, as nearly as possible, in accordance with the advice of the technical Departments concerned.
this scheme is essentially a short-term measure and is intended to last only so long as adequate facilities for advance training are not available in India.
* Presumbly the Report of the Reference Board on Scientific Terminology vide item XIII of C.A.B Agenda is refereed to.
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2. Working of the Scheme.-The Central Government pays the entire cost of training in respect of scholars selected for the Centre; and meets half the total cost in respect of scholars selected on behalf of provincial Govts. Financial sanction for the scheme is given from year to year.
After the concurrence of the Finance Ministry has been obtained, Provincial Govts and Ministries of the Government of Indian are asked how many scholarships they require and for what subjects. If the requirements exceed the number of scholarships available, a Quota Committee appointed by the Hon'ble Minister for Education, scrutinizes them and allocates the scholarships (a) between the Provinces and the Centre and (b) among the various Departments of the Central Government. The provincial Govts and Ministries of the Central Government are free to distribute the scholarships allocated to them among the subjects to which they attach the greatest importance
3. Selections.-Provincial scholars are selected by the Provincial Governments and their names are then submitted to the Govt. of India for approval. Provincial Governments are requested to select, if possible, two or three candidates for each scholarship and to arrange their names in order of preference. The Govt. of India is free, if necessary, to approve the second or even the third candidate in preference to the first; but as a rule, the choice of the Provincial Govt. is not interfered with , if interference can possibly be avoided. The only consideration which weights with the Selection Board Overseas Scholarships, which scrutinizes Provincial selections on behalf of the Govt. of India is that candidates selected by Provincial Governments are of a sufficiently high calibre to be acceptable to Universities abroad for advanced studies and to justify the heavy expenditure on their training.
The Central Scholars are selected by the Selection Board,Overseas Scholarships which is appointed by the Hon'ble Minister for education and the Board,s recommendations are always accepted by the Government of India. The procedure for selection is as follows. Applications are invited through advertisements published practically in all the leading English newspapers throughout the country. They are received, registered and indexed in the Education Ministry, in the Office of the Deputy Educational Advisor (Overseas) who also acts as Secretary to the Board. The applications are classified (a) according to qualification is necessary because the Govt. of India decided in the very beginning that, provided suitable candidates were forthcoming from minority communities, they should be given a proper share of these scholarships. The share of the minority communities has been fixed according to the communal ration prescribed by the Ministry of Home Affairs for purposes of recruitment to services.
Candidates who possess First Class Bachelor's or higher degree are placed in Category I; those who possess at least a Second Class Master's degree axe placed in Category II, and so on. This classification is firm but not absolutely rigid; due weight is given to practical and research experience and on that basis some candidates are up graded. There is also a separate category for those who possess special technical qualifications which cannot be equated with University degrees but which are comparable to them. The purpose of this classification by the Secretary is merely to spare the Board the unnecessary labour of examining all the applications and sorting them. All applications are, however, placed before the Board and the Board and the Technical experts who assist them can, and some times do, call for applications of a particular category or a particular type or sometime% even of a particular candidate.
After the Board have examined the applications, they select for each subject suitable candidates who merit further careful attention. Technical experts, nominated by the Departments concerned and sometimes also specialists co-opted by the Board are then invited to assist the Board in selecting candidates for interview. In view of the large number of selections and the time factor, the number of candidates, to be interviewed is on the whole no more than twice the number of scholarships to be awarded. The final selections are made after interview and at this Stage also technical experts and specialists are invited to assist the Board.
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As far as can be judged, the method of selection has not worked badly. After the selection in 1945 there were many cased in which persons interested in certain unsuccessful candidate appealed to various authorities challenging he corectness of the Board's selections. Each case was looked into and a report submited to the authority to whom the complaint had been adressed. It so happend that in no case was the Board's decision found to be unjustified and the Hon'ble Minister for Planting and Development, the Board's recommendation that the work of selections should be entrusted to the Federal Public Service Commision, decided that the work should continue to be done by a special Selection Board as in 1945. It is also perhaps a tribute to the integrity of the Board and to the confidence which they have inspired in the mind of the public that while there were numerous attempts to canvass members of the Board in 1945. It is also perhaps a tribute to the integrity of the Board and to the confidence which they have inspired in the mind of the public that while there were numerous attempts to canvass members of the Board in 1945, there were practically no such attempts in 1946, and none this year. The total number of applications was nearly 10,000 in 1945, about 4,500 in 1946 and about 2,500 this year, though the number of Category I candidates has not fallen to the same extent, being about 1,900 in 1945, 1,600 in 1946 and 1,200 in 1947; in other words, experience has very considerably discouraged candidates of poor qualifications from applying.
4. The Universities abroad became extremely crowded with the influx of ex-servicemen at the end of hostilities. In spite of these limitations the number of place secured for Indian students was satisfactory as the following statistics below:-
Admission secured during 1945
U.K U.S.A Australia N.Z Eygpt Total
1. Central 150 160 .. .. .. 310
2. Provincial-
(a) Sponsored 66 125 .. .. .. 191
(b) Deputat- 38 55 .. .. .. 93
ionists
3. States 33 40 .. .. .. 73
Total 287 380 .. .. .. 667
Admission secured during 1946
U.K U.S.A Australia N.Z Egypt Total
1. Central 54 76 5 2 .. 137
2. Provincial-
(a) Sponsored 93 62 2 4 .. 161
(b) Deputa-
tionists 36 6 1 3 ..
3. States 94 43 .. 1 ..
Total 277 186 8 10 .. 482
Position reqarding student selected for the year 1947-48
Central
In all 136 scholars were selected for the provisional award of the Central Overseas scholoarships 1947-48. The passage and admission position of these is given below
Total no. No. trans- No. of No.on Admission Number selected ferred to scholoarships the secured sailed for the the Pakistan wthdrawn list at award Govt or present cancelled
136 31 14 91 U.K 29 U.K 23
U.S.A 22 U.S.A 19
Total 51 42
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(b) Provincial Scholoars and Deputationists
Total no. No. trans- No. of No.on Admission No
selected ferred to scholoarships the secured sailed
for the the Pakistan wthdrawn list at
award Government or present
cancelled
Sponsored 152 23 9 120 U.K 22 U.K 9
U.S.A 9 U.S.A 16
Total 31 25
Deputationists 69 24 .. 45 U.K 3 U.K
U.S.A 3 U.S.A
Total 6
(c) Position of scholarships after partition for the year 1945-46 and 1946-47
1945-46 1946-47
Total number of originally selected 355 214
Total No. of cancellations and withdrawls 23 40
Total number who have opted for Pakistan 74 36
Total number of the list to-day 258 138
Total number of admissions during 1947
U.K 3 14
U.S.A 8 25
Australia. .. 1
Total number who sailed during 1947 to :-
U.K 3 12
U.S.A 7 95
New Zealand .. 5
(d) Position of Provincial sponsored scholors and deputationist selection 1945-46 and
1946-47 ( as on 8-11-47)
1945-46 1946-47
Spon Deputation- Spon Deputa-
nist tionist.
Total number originally selected for the award 236 141 261 135
Total transfered to Pakistan so far 42 25 24 10
No. of scholarships withdrawn so far 22 4 39 13
Total No. on the list at present U.K 60 49 85 51
U.S.A 110 59 109 61
Aust. 2 3 2 ..
N.Z .. 1 ..
F.C.S .. .. 1 ..
Total 172 112 198 112
Admission secured-
U.K 57 42 69 43
U.S.A 107 55 80 50
Aus. 2 1 2 ..
N.Z .. 3 1 ..
F.C.S .. 1 ..
TOTAL 160 101 153 93
No.sailed-
U.K 57 39 68 41
U.S.A 106 54 74 39
Aus. .. 1 2 ..
N.Z 2 3 1 ..
TOTAL 165 97 146 80
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(e) Return of trained scholars.-Of the 1945-46 batch of
Central S ars 13 have returned to India, so far, after
completion of their courses of study and two of them
have been employed by the Central Government, while five
have jointed their previous posts. The question of
employment of the remaining four is under the
consideration of the Govt. of India.
Of the Provincial Government Scholars, seven sponsored scholars and thirteen deputationists have returned, so far, after completing their studios.
5. Overseas Scholarships Selection Board for 1947-48.-
The Selection Board was reconstituted this year consisting of the following gentlemen:-
1. Sir B. N. Rau, C. L E., Constitutional Adviser
(Chairman).
2. Sir K. S. Krishnan, D. Sc., F. R. S., Allahabad
University, Allahabad.
3. Khan Bahadur Mian Abdul Aziz, C. L E., Chairman, United
Provinces Public Service Commission, Allahabad.
4. Sir John Sargent, C. L E., M. A., D. Litt., Educational
Adviser to the Govt of India.
5. Mr. Ashfaque Husain, B. A., (Oxon), Bar-at-law, Deputy
Educational Adviser to the Govt. of India, (Secretary)
6. Overseas Scholarships Committee.-To examine the purpose and the scope of the Overseas Scholarships Scheme, a committee consisting of the following gentlemen has been set up :-
1. Dr. B. C. Roy (Chairman).
2. Dr. Nazir Ahmad.
3. Dr. H. J. Bhabha.
4. Dr. B. B. Dey.
5. Prof. N. K. Sidhanta.
At the Committee's request, the services of Mr. P. Gangulee, an Education Officer in the Ministry, have been made available to the Committee to act as its Secretary.
The Educational Adviser and or Deputy Educational Adviser (Overseahave attended the meetings of the Committee as assessors.
The Committee had been asked to submit its report by the 30th Juno, 1947 The terms of reference of the Committee are as follows :-
(a) To consider whether in the light of the experience
gained since the scheme was initiated in 1945 the award
of Government scholarships is serving the purpose for
which it was established, and whether, having regard to
the prospects of their being absorbed in suitable
employment, and of facilities for training becoming
available in India, the number of school as to be sent
abroad in 1948 and subsequent years should be increased
or reduced and whether the range of subjects should be
enlarged. If so, to what extent;
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To consider further what avenues of study in the
different branches are available, or may be available in
India if the existing institutions in the country are
developed with suitable help from Govt.
(b) To consider what modifications, if any, may be desirable
in the existing arrangements for inviting applications,
selecting candidates, placing them in training
institutions .),broad and generally supervising their
welfare while overseas.
(c) To consider what arrangements should be made in this
country to ensure that scholars who have successfully
completed their courses abroad are absorbed without
delay into suitable employment on their return.
(d) To consider what steps should be taken to co-ordinate
the Overseas Scholarships Scheme with any existing
arrangements by other Government Departments or by any
University for sending persons abroad for advanced
training.
The final report of the committee will be submitted to the Hon'ble Minister for Education in a short time.
7. Printed copies of the report of the Selection Board, Overseas Scholarships for the years 1945 and 1946 are enclosed.
(Not reproduced here)