KOLKATA: Mumbai-based Magma Fincorp Limited (Magma), announced a list of 100 students it selected for the prestigious M-Scholar 2019 scholarship today. Majority of the scholarship winners are from West Bengal this year, 60 out of 100.
While the cut off score stood at 90% and average score for West Bengal students were 92.5%, so the selection was extremely hard fought. Magma has been annually providing scholarships for the last 5 years now through M-Scholar and is committed to help the meritorious students from poor families pursue their dream.
Among the selected batch of 2019, Tumpa Das is the daughter of a masonry work-helper whose monthly income is Rs 3500. Tumpa scored 95% in Plus2 Board and opted for Arts with English Honours from Bankura Christian College. She is enterprising and gives tuitions post college hours to support her family. Riya Das has been supporting her studies for the past 2 years by doing odd jobs. She is a students of B Sc. with Geography Hons at Bankura Zilla Saradamanni Mahila Mahavidyapith.
Ananta Bag is the son of a farmer who tills farm land for others. He has taken up selling newspapers in order to fund his studies. Currently he is pursuing B.Sc in Physics from Sovarani Memoraial College. Arjun Ghosh lost his eyesight in an accident in his childhood. His father works as a van driver and finds it difficult to make ends meet. He is currently pursuing Law from Gujarat National Law University.
Susanta Das’s father works in a small textile unit. To support his family and studies he used to work in a medical store. Currently he is doing Eng. Hons from Bankura Sammilani College.
Some of the selected M Scholars from other regions include Archana Mahadev Rodge who lost her father in 2007 and since then her mother works as a tailor to meet the family expenses. Few of her relatives provided her financial support to complete her class XI-XII. She is currently pursuing MBBS from Grant Govt. Medical College in Maharashtra. Nishanthi G’s father works as a coolie, as a daily wage laborer in Tamil Nadu. She has scored 95.5% despite the hardship in her life and will be pursuing B.Com.
Magma has been awarding M-Scholar for the past 5 years and so far 400 meritorious students from underprivileged families have benefitted under this CSR initiative of Magma Foundation. Under Magma M-Scholar, the company offers annually meritorious students from families with monthly income of less than Rs 10,000 a scholarship to continue their studies. The scholarship is open to Indian students and is for a duration of three to five years, renewable every year.
Profile of Students in the M-Scholar 2019 Batch
- Age group 17-19 years, scored 93% on average.
- Family annual income INR 62,400 on average.
- Family background – Parents work as daily wage earners, porter to carry luggage, van driver, a potter, electrician/ mechanic, tailor, farmer, security guard etc.
Announcing the list, Kaushik Sinha, Head – CSR, Magma Fincorp Ltd said, “Giving underprivileged student’s good quality education is like shining light in a dark room. Magma has been helping meritorious students to say Yes to Education for the last 5 years and has been successful in uplifting students from economically weaker backgrounds through the M-Scholar program. Some of our first batch of students have graduated and joined prestigious organizations namely, ISRO, Larsen & Toubro, Qualcom and we have couple of MBBS pass-outs as well. We hope to shape the lives of these students who will be the future leaders”.
The students are spread across zones with percentages between 90-99.4% with some exceptions for students who are handicapped. Most of them have registered for Medical, Engineering, Bachelors of Science, Arts and Commerce, BBA, LLB and CA.
Breakup of 100 Students selected in 2019:
| Zone | Nos. of students | ||
| East | 61 | ||
| West | 1 | ||
| North | 6 | ||
| South | 32 | ||
| Courses | Nos. of Students | ||
| MBBS/B.Tech/B.E | 24 | ||
| B.Com/BA/BBA | 41 | ||
| LLB/B.Sc | 35 | ||
