IIT KGP is instituting several new student awards and scholarships from the upcoming semester beginning July 2018. The alumni and corporate partners have come forward to support undergraduate students on merit basis towards their academics and research.
 
A key criterion of these awards and scholarships is the flexibility in deciding the means background. “We have observed that the lower cut off for economic background of students for existing scholarships and awards are at such a threshold that students falling in marginally higher category do not qualify for those benefits while considering the cost of living, they too need some sort of financial support” opined Prof. Subrata Chattopadhyay, Dean, Alumni Affairs at IIT Kharagpur. “We purposely increased the threshold of the current family income upto Rs. 10 and Rs. 15  Lakh per year to accommodate more students for these scholarships” he added.
 
The donors have envisioned different ideas while contributing towards these scholarships and awards and inspiring the spirit of giving back to the society for greater good while instilling some traits which are very own to IIT KGP.
 
For alumna Dr Chandralekha Singh and her husband Dr Jeremy Levy, who are professors at the University of Pittsburgh in the USA, the motivation was commemorating the names of former faculty members of IIT KGP, Prof. Mandakini Majumdar (Deshpande) and  Prof G P Sastry who profoundly impacted students and helped shaped their careers. For Singh and Levy who themselves are academicians these are legacy of teacher-student rapport of a close-knit campus like IIT KGP. Students from any academic discipline qualifying through JEE Advanced and studying from 2nd year onward will be eligible for these student award. This donation was facilitated by the IIT KGP Foundation USA. The Foundation, has earlier this year, facilitated donations for a hi-tech ambulance for the students and  funded foreign internships.
 
The class of 1997 from the department of Mechanical Engineering at IIT Kharagpur have instituted scholarships for their department for next five years in the memory of their batchmate Ritesh Ranjan. “The bonding among friends at IIT KGP is the most significant aspect of their 4-5 years of undergraduate life. It helps them to develop their personality, interpersonal skills and extracurricular activities. There are always some students who lead in such traits. Ritesh Ranjan was one such whom his batchmates remember as a livewire and they hope his persona to impact current generation of students while competing for this scholarship” said Prof. Chattopadhyay.
 
Four merit scholarships have been set up this year by Tower Research Capital for this year under their Corporate Social Responsibility program. Four more will follow next year. Students enrolled for B.Tech in Computer Science and Engineering, Electronics and Electrical Communications Engineering, and M.Sc. in Maths and Computing will be eligible for these scholarships.
 
The Institute is working with departments and alumni to raise more funds for supporting students’ initiatives. It will also be funding research at undergraduate level from its endowment fund built out of alumni donations over the years.