The government is planning to increase funds for scholarship and fellowship for ICT-related research to make it ten times the existing amount.
The Information and Communication Technology (ICT) Division under the Posts, Telecommunication and Information Technology Ministry has proposed to amend the existing innovation scholarship policy on ICT development, which was formulated last year.
According to the proposal, the ICT Division sought approval of Tk20 lakh as the highest scholarship for any outstanding research proposal in the field of ICT; which is currently Tk2 lakh only.
However, after receiving the proposal, the Finance Ministry placed its own recommendation and said up to Tk25 lakh might be granted in this regard.
“If the research proposal is found to be reasonable, up to Tk25 lakh can be allotted in two instalments,” the ministry’s recommendation added.
The ICT Division also proposed an amendment to the policy for increasing the lowest amount of scholarship to Tk5 lakh from existing Tk10,000.
It also proposed creating two more scholarship categories of Tk5-10 lakh and Tk10-20 lakh ranges.
“We have placed our proposal according to our plan, as ICT is a very dynamic and innovative sector,” ICT Division Secretary Nazrul Islam Khan told the Dhaka Tribune yesterday.
He said they recommended to increase funding, while allocation would depend on effective proposals.
