Poverty forces many youth to discontinue their education and with limited qualifications they are deprived of good employment opportunities, which perpetuates the vicious cycle. A small support can help such youth break this circle and help them realize their dream. With the aim of providing such support, GMRVF provides scholarships and loans to meritorious students who lack finances for pursuing higher education.

Highlights:

• So far, the Foundation has provided educational scholarships amounting to about Rs 80 lakhs for over 2500 students to various courses like Inter, Degree, Engineering, PG, Polytechnic, Nursing, B.Ed etc.
• Another 221 students have got educational loans for professional education worth about Rs 90 lakhs. For this GMRVF has signed MOUs with some banks. It usually gives 1/4th as interest free loan and students get the remaining money as bank loan.
• In the case of individual student grants, the economic and educational qualifications of the students are ascertained following which an interview is held.
• While the primary consideration for giving scholarship is the academic history and the family’s background, an examination is held for the students applying for professional courses like CA, Nursing etc.
• The Foundation tracks the academic progress of each student and provides counseling services when necessary. The Foundation also monitors the students’ progress by maintaining regular contact with the educational institution where the student is enrolled.
• The students receiving loans and scholarships are performing satisfactorily in their studies. Many of them have become successful professionals in various fields.

Case Study:
Unlocking the opportunities!
Ravi Kishore hails from a poor family in a village nearer to Rajam of AP. His father works as a daily wage labourer and his income was hardly sufficient to meet the needs of the household. Ravi completed his intermediate with more than 90% of marks and dreamt of becoming an engineer. However, poverty forced him to settle for a normal degree course at SGCSR Degree College, Rajam of AP. Recognizing his interest in Engineering Education, GMRVF staff and the lecturers of the college encouraged him to join B.Tech (Civil) in GMR Institute of Technology. Through its MOU with Andhra Bank, Foundation facilitated Rs 1.20 lakh loan from the Bank, and provided Rs 38000 as interest free loan. Ravi completed his B.Tech in 2010 and joined a aluminum factory at Vizag as a trainee engineer. Ravi is now happy to be able to share the burden of his father and is thanking GMRVF for supporting him in realizing his dream.