Wednesday, June 1, 2011

General Cultural Scholarship Scheme of ICCR

ICCR (INDIAN COUNCIL FOR CULTURAL RELATIONS ) was founded in 1950 by Maulana Abul Kalam Azad, independent India’s first Education Minister. The Council helps formulate and implement policies pertaining to India’s external cultural relations, to foster mutual understanding between India and other countries and to promote cultural exchanges with other peoples.

One of the major activities of the ICCR is its scholarship programme. The ICCR annually offers about 2325 scholarships under 21 scholarship schemes.

The embassy of India in Armenia is authorized to conduct The General Cultural Scholarship Scheme in  Armenia.GCSS is one of the most important and popular schemes of the ICCR for foreign students.

Scholarships are awarded under this scheme annually to international students belonging to certain Asian, African and Latin American countries for the undergraduate, postgraduate degrees and for pursuing research at Indian universities. However, scholarships for medical studies for MBBS, BDS or for medical research leading to a Ph.D. degree are not offered under the GCSS scheme. Within the framework of this program there are 2 slots for meritorious students from Armenia to study under graduate/post graduate courses in Arts, Science, Engineering, Indian classical dance, music and fine arts in educational institutions in India.

The candidates should have fluent knowledge of English.  The selected candidates will be given a monthly scholarship, book allowance, hostel accommodation subject to availability and reimbursement of tuition fees.  However, the candidates will have to bear their own international air passage from Armenia to India and back. 

You can find all needed information with these links below:

Application Form for Scholarships for Foreign Students, 2011
Guidelines for ICCR Scholarship Holders, 2011
List of Universities Recognised by the University Grants Commission of India
Scholarship Terms for Different Courses


The scholarships are usually announced in the month of December for ensuing academic year.  Please watch for announcements.  Meanwhile, for The General Cultural Scholarship Scheme interested candidates may contact Embassy of India on any working day between 10:00 am - 17:00 pm.

For other scholarship schemes offered by ICCR  you have to contact the ICCR directly.