Ghanashyam Dash scholarship honours six Odisha students for higher education
BHUBANESWAR: Recipients of the Professor Ghanashyam Dash Scholarship for Higher Education (PGDS) for the academic year 2023-2024 were felicitated by the Bansidhar & Ila Panda Foundation (BIPF), the social development arm of Indian Metals and Ferro Alloys Limited (IMFA) on Thursday.
Every year, the PGDS annual scholarship is awarded to six meritorious students of Odisha to facilitate higher education in the fields of engineering, medicine and liberal arts across India.
In the 19th edition of the PGDS initiative, four students – KVM Prassana Kumar, Priyanshu Panda, Himanshu Sekhar Patra and Priyanka Dalai – have been awarded scholarships to pursue engineering at IIIT Dharwad, IIT Madras, IGIT Sarang, and Deen Dayal Upadhyaya College, respectively. Additionally, Prayas Rout and Abhipsa Chowdhury have been awarded scholarships to pursue medicine at AIIMS Bhubaneswar.
The students were felicitated in presence of CEO of AIIMS Bhubaneswar Dr Ashutosh Biswas and trustee and founder CEO of BIPF Shaifalika Panda.
The PGDS initiative covers up to 90 per cent of the academic fees and eligible expenses for selected candidates. It reserves Rs 6 lakh per awardee to support the students in completing their four-year professional studies.
Speaking on the occasion, Shaifalika said, “This opportunity allows our recipients to unleash themselves from the shackles of their socio-economic barriers onto their journey of professional success.”
Instituted in 2005 by IMFA, the scholarship is named after the historian Ghanashyam Dash, father of late Ila Panda. The PGDS-2024 application process will begin in August this year through the BIPF website.
