AUF launched a unique scholarship program in June-2014 which was specially tailored for students pursuing their education from government institutions and having annual family income below 1.5 Lakh rupees. During the financial year 2016-17, more than 1.5 lakh students registered for this scholarship exam through online and offline application mode. Next year applications were invited online only. More than lakh registered for the examination and around 70,000 eligible took the test. This competition took place across the states of Uttar Pradesh, Himachal Pradesh, Jammu and Kashmir, Chandigarh, Punjab, Haryana and Uttarakhand. Not only from the students, we received tremendous support from many educational institutions, teachers and district administration.
Eligibility Criteria: Students who have secured more than 60 % marks in their last annual exams and are studying in 9th to 12th standard, and whose annual family income is less than 1.5 lakh are eligible for this scholarship program.
Winners: After a rigorous selection process (written examination and multiple rounds of interviews), a total of 36 students are selected for this scholarship program, 18 of which were from class 9th and 10th who got Rs.30, 000/- each, 18 were from class 11th and 12th and got Rs.50, 000/- each and 2 blind students one from class 10th and one from 12th category who got Rs.30, 000/- and Rs.50, 000/- respectively.
Felicitation: After the announcement of the scholarships, all 38 students were invited to Delhi for two days along with their guardians. On the first day, 18th April, 2018 the students get a chance to understand how Amar Ujala works, and how the newspaper is designed. They interact with senior Editors as well as Managing Director of Amar Ujala. On the second day, these syudents and their parents were taken to a day-long Delhi-Darshan trip. The memorable trip turned into a life-time event when these students were felicitated in the evening by the Vice-President Mr. Venkaiah Naidu. The earlier batches in the previous years were felicitated by Lok Sabha Speaker Mrs. Sumitra Mahajan and the then Union Minister of HRD, Mrs. Smriti Irani.
