India has expanded its financial-assistance programme for undergraduates at the University of Jaffna, with the High Commission of India in Sri Lanka distributing enhanced monthly grants to selected students on Tuesday.
High Commissioner Santosh Jha said the initiative is aimed at supporting meritorious students from economically weaker backgrounds, enabling them to focus on academic progress and future opportunities.
The scheme was rolled out from the 2025–26 academic year and builds on an earlier 2023–24 programme under which 100 students received LKR 5,000 per month based on academic performance and financial need. Under the revised scheme, 100 first-year undergraduates will receive LKR 7,500 per month, with the monthly support continuing throughout their degree programmes. The cohort will expand annually, reaching 400 students by the fourth year.
The expansion was announced during President Anura Kumara Dissanayake’s state visit to India in December 2024, when Prime Minister Narendra Modi confirmed enhanced support for students of the University of Jaffna and Eastern University.
The grants sit alongside India’s wider development cooperation in Sri Lanka’s education sector, which includes school infrastructure upgrades, 55 hostels under construction at 13 universities, transport support and digital learning facilities. India also delivered the third phase of 145 plantation-sector houses during Vice-President C.P. Radhakrishnan’s recent Colombo visit.
Source: Newswire.
