Regional Director of Indian Council for Cultural Relations, Ministry of External Affairs, Government of India, Balwant Thakur called on Prof. Ashok Aima the Vice Chancellor of Central University of Jammu and congratulated him on being appointed to the Governing body of ICCR.

Sh. Balwant Thakur visited the Temporary Academic Block (TAB) of Central University of Jammu here this morning and Prof. Ashok Aima welcomed Sh. Balwant Thakur for visiting Central University of Jammu and presented him a bouquet.

During the meeting with Hon’ble Vice Chancellor of Central University of Jammu, Sh. Balwant Thakur desired Central University of Jammu to reserve seats for students with the motive to make Central University of Jammu an International destination of education and learning.  He further informed that one of the major activities of the ICCR is its scholarship programme.

The ICCR annually offers about 3365 scholarships under 24 scholarship schemes. Of these scholarships, 1000 are exclusively for the students of Afghanistan and 900 for students from African countries. There are students in India under these schemes from about 135 countries. Most of the scholarship holders come from developing countries in Asia, Africa, South and Central America.

However, there are quite a few students from the developed countries as well. Around 4750 foreign students are currently studying in India under the various scholarship schemes. The students are in under graduate, post graduate and doctoral programmes as well as in professional courses such as engineering, pharmacy, accountancy, business administration and management. Scholarships are also given for learning Indian dance, music, painting, sculpture, etc.

Prof. Ashok Aima appreciated the efforts of Sh. Balwant Thakur for bringing Dogri theatre to the National and International limelight and for being an instrumental in creating a new cultural renaissance in the State of Jammu and Kashmir. 

 Those who were present on this occasion were Dr. Baccha Babu, Assistant Professor MCNM and Dr. Pankaj Mehta of Department of EVS.