CM fellowship programme to make a comeback; new version to offer IIT or IIM certificates

The Maharashtra Chief Minister Fellowship programme, which was suspended during the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) tenure, is set to make a comeback with a proposal to renew the scheme will be ready within the next two weeks. On the completion of the one-year programme, a fellow will receive a certificate from Indian Institute of Technology (IIT)-Mumbai or Indian Institute of Management (IIM)-Nagpur.

According to officials, the state government is in talks with both the institutes for the affiliation of the certificate course, under which a fellow will be enrolled, once selected for the programme. “The certificate course on developmental policies will be conducted by either of the institutes during weekends. The fellows will have to work with departments assigned to them during the weekdays,” said an official from the Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis’ Office.

The fellowship programme was launched when Fadnavis was the Chief Minister of Maharashtra, during his tenure from 2014-19. Under the programme, graduates with an experience of one year were selected to work with different government departments. They were assigned with secretaries, the collector office, and Zilla Parishad CEOs’ offices; and paid a stipend between Rs 45,000 and 50,000 per month. After the completion of the programme, they were given a certificate signed by the state’s Chief Minister’s Office.

During the MVA period, when Uddhav Thackeray became the Chief Minister, the scheme was not renewed again after the last batch then completed the programme. “After the proposal is finalised and approved within the next two to three weeks, a further three months’ period will be provided to seek names of the applicants,” the official said.