Chief Minister Hemant Soren said that today is a historic day for Jharkhand. “Today we are going to show our new generation a new path towards education. Today a historic MoU has been signed between the Foreign and Commonwealth Development Office (FCDO) of the British High Commission, New Delhi and the Government of Jharkhand. On this auspicious occasion, I extend my warm greetings and thanks to the British High Commissioner to India, Alex Ellis and his team. Under the Marang Gomke Jaipal Singh Munda Scholarship Scheme, only tribal children had gone abroad to pursue higher education in the first phase. This scholarship scheme seems to be more successful than expected,” he said.
“In a very short time, the consent of the Central Government and the UK has been obtained. Now, the scope of Marang Gomke Jaipal Singh Scholarship Scheme is expanding. Now, our government will send tribal as well as backward class children, to study abroad under this scholarship scheme for higher education,” said the CM during the launch of Chevening Marang Gomke Jaipal Singh Munda Overseas Scholarship 2023 and the MoU signing ceremony between the State Government and Foreign Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO), British High Commission, New Delhi here on Tuesday.
The CM said that with the prestigious Chevening Scholarship of the UK Government, now under the MoU with the prestigious Marang Gomke Jaipal Singh Munda Overseas Scholarship Scheme of the country and Jharkhand, youth will get an opportunity to study abroad every year. He said that this is the first time that a State Government has signed such an MoU with the UK Government. He said that a hundred years ago today, a tribal youth from Jharkhand, Jaipal Singh Munda got the opportunity to study in Oxford University, he also captained the Oxford Blues team in hockey along with studies. It was in England that he found a suitable environment to hone his leadership ability. This is the reason why people today know him as Marang Gomke Jaipal Singh Munda, who had a different identity in the state, country and world.
The CM said that whether it is education, sports or any skilled job, the youth here have always displayed their talent. “Last year we started Marang Gomke Scholarship Scheme so that poverty should not come in the way of talent of youth. This scheme has done an unprecedented job in giving flight to the dreams of the youth. The result is that now every year we will not send 6-7 but 20-25 youths to study abroad. Youth from all sections of the society coming from deprived society have also been included in this scheme. Our youth going abroad for higher education are not just scholars of Jharkhand, they are also our Young Ambassadors,” he said.
Soren said that Jharkhand is playing an important role in many matters towards sustainable development. “Our state is known for water-forest-land. There is a lot of potential in our state to move forward rapidly in the fields of solar energy and climate change etc. The Prime Minister of the country had expressed the country's commitment to zero net carbon emissions by 2070 during the COP 26 (COP 26) session of Climate Change in Glasgow last year. Along with this, a target was set to take the country's non-fossil energy capacity to 500 GW by 2030. Jharkhand is also working on a plan to move forward with the same goal,” he added.
On this occasion, British High Commissioner Alex Ellis in his address appreciated the efforts being made in the field of higher education in Jharkhand under the leadership of Chief Minister Hemant Soren. The British High Commissioner said that Jharkhand has very beautiful plains. There is a lot of investment potential in Jharkhand. An investment friendly environment has been created here. The state government on its part is giving full support to the investors.
On this occasion, Ministers Champai Soren and Hafeezul Hasan, Chief Secretary Sukhdev Singh, Development Commissioner Arun Kumar Singh, Principal Secretary to Chief Minister Rajiv Arun Ekka, Secretary to Chief Minister Vinay Kumar Choubey, Secretary, Scheduled Tribes, Scheduled Castes, Minorities and Backward Classes Welfare Department, KK Soan, Tribal Welfare Commissioner Mukesh Kumar, representatives of British High Commission and other dignitaries were present in large numbers.