IIT-Delhi sets up two funds that will help over 100 students

Launched by the President of India, Shri Ram Nath Kovind, in 2019, the Endowment Fund has created history in setting up a model for other educational institutes to follow. Marking the milestone occasion, the Endowment Fund Board — the governing body of the Fund comprising both alumni and administrative members of IIT Delhi — has announced, as its initial programs, the establishment of the ‘Endowment Merit Scholarships’ and the ‘Endowment Nurture Fund’, encouraging diversity in scholastic excellence and entrepreneurship amongst its students, as the Institute goes further in realising its 2030 vision and strategy,” the institute said in a statement.

The ‘Endowment Merit Scholars Program’ will provide 120 merit scholarships to batches of 15 women and 15 men B.Tech/Dual degree students for each year, the institute said.

“The ‘Endowment Nurture Fund’ aims to offer graduating students the opportunity to be awarded seed funding for their proposed ventures, encouraging them to embark on developing and nurturing their entrepreneurial ideas and aspirations, rather than seeking job placement,” it said. IIT-D has said that the Endowment Board was committing Rs 3.20 crore annually from earnings of the endowment corpus but it “expects the amounts and awardees to grow further
in the years ahead”.

On the second anniversary of the fund, Director V Ramgopal Rao said, “IIT Delhi has taken a historic step with the establishment of the Endowment Fund, and it is encouraging to receive the collective support of our alumni towards the realisation of the Institute’s vision. The Endowment initiative has helped the Institute connect with the alumni at a deeper level and engage them on many activities.”

Announcing the establishment of the programmes, Arun Duggal, Co-Chairman of the Fund Board said, “With the growing contributions from our over 54,000 global alumni, we will support many more programs, fostering research advancements and innovation in technology.”