The Confederation of Alumni for National Law Universities (CAN Foundation), in view of the ongoing COVID-19 crisis, has announced the list of Scholars to be supported under Project Eklavya 2021. This project seeks to lift and impact deserving, but underprivileged, undergraduate students of National Law Universities of the Country. This is done by providing the students with an annual scholarship that facilitates them in attaining education at premier NLUs of the nation. In the academic session 2020-21, under the 2nd edition of the Project, 30 students were given scholarships amounting to Rs. 25 Lakhs approx.
The Foundation had in place, a robust Two-Tier Selection Procedure, wherein the applications had undergone a strict scrutiny by the Selection Committees, that comprised eminent legal professionals. This procedure aimed at maintaining the highest levels of scrutiny and transparency. The students were shortlisted by a carefully nominated Tier-1 Scrutiny Committee, after which the applications were verified and finalised by a 3-Membered High-Powered Selection Committee.
The High-Powered Selection Committee of Eklavya 2021 was headed by Justice Gita Mittal (Former Chief Justice, J&K High Court) as the Chairperson and also consisted of Mr. Dayan Krishnan (Senior Advocate, Supreme Court) and Mr. Siddharth Bhatnagar (Senior Advocate, Supreme Court) as its members.
The Tier-1 Scrutiny Committee comprised eminent young faces of the legal fraternity having a minimum standing of 12-15 years at the Bar. It consisted of Ms. Pragati Neekhra (AOR, Supreme Court), Mr. Amalpushp Shroti (AOR, Supreme Court), Mr. Divyakant Lahoti (AOR, Supreme Court), Mr. Mrigank Prabhakar (AOR, Supreme Court), Ms. Suhasini Sen (Advocate, Supreme Court) and Mr. Tariq Khan (Partner, Advani & Co.).
The Tier-I Committee after carefully scrutinizing all the applications shortlisted 47 candidates out of around 60 applications and went a step further by categorising them under 3 categories to ascertain the quantum of financial assistance to be given to them.
The first being the ‘Excellence despite Extreme Hardships’ category which involves scholars who have suffered gravely as a consequence of precarious financial positions. Such scholars are categorized by the loss of a parent(s) or in the event that parent(s) are undergoing some serious medical treatments or financial hardships. These candidates have managed their education till now by taking out loans or have tapped into limited family savings. Such circumstances have thus put them at high risk of a financial crisis, but the candidates have performed exceptionally well for themselves despite such impediments. 21 Candidates were shortlisted under this category.
The next category includes cases of ‘Excellence despite Hardships’ which consists of scholars who have insufficient family income to sustain their education or are facing some other impediment in the seamless pursuit of their education. These are also characterised by the existence of other dependents such as siblings, who also require support for their education. 24 Candidates were shortlisted under this category.
The final category is aimed at ‘Rewarding Excellence’. The candidates shortlisted under this category are recipients of the ‘Late Prof. (Dr.) Shamnad Basheer Memorial Award For Excellence’ which includes a combination of an academic award as well as financial support and has been constituted to honour his legacy and vision. The candidates under this category are shortlisted to encourage and reward their stellar academic record and performance despite financial difficulties in their families. The assistance is to be extended to them as a Token of Encouragement for their resilience in the face of adversity. 2 Candidates were shortlisted under this category.
These shortlisted candidates were further vetted by the esteemed High-Powered Selection Committee. The HPSC recommended that financial help be extended to all 47 candidates in the “Excellence despite Extreme Hardships”, “Excellence despite Hardships” and “Rewarding Excellence” categories and that the Foundation may develop innovative ways to help these young law students navigate their legal careers. The Foundation accepted the suggestions made by HPSC in stride and has selected 47 candidates to extend support under Project Eklavya 2021. Thus, as per the recommendations of HPSC, 21 candidates under ‘Excellence despite Extreme Hardships’ category have been awarded Rs. 1 Lakh each and 24 candidates under ‘Excellence despite Hardships’ category have been provided scholarship support of upto Rs. 75,000 each. The 2 candidates under “Rewarding Excellence” category are extended support of upto Rs. 50,000 including academic support.
Detailed Profiles of Selected candidates under the ‘Excellence Despite Extreme Hardship’ category and the ‘Excellence Despite Hardship’ category can be accessed at HERE
The CAN Foundation also received immense support from the SCC-EBC Group in a number of their endeavours. In their legal awareness exercises, the Group has lent their support as the Foundation’s ‘Knowledge Partner’. Further, the SCC-EBC Group, known for their pristine publishing standards and stellar legal research tools, have pledged their support to the Eklavya Scholars selected under the “Rewarding Excellence” category.
In the words of Mr. Siddharth R. Gupta, CEO, CAN Foundation, “Eklavya is one of the most expansive Projects of the Foundation, through which we aim to touch the lives of hundreds of Students nationwide and to enable them to continue chasing their dreams , unscathed by financial fetters. We seek to widen our national footprint even further, and aim to transform the lives of many more Students through our work. We, at CAN believe in rewarding aspiration and merit of Students, thereby strengthening their zeal towards their aim.”
More details about Project Eklavya can be found on the official website of the Foundation – www.canfoundation.in.
