ICCR Scholarships

1000 scholarships for Afghan Nationals for the academic year 2021-22

The Consulate General of India in Kandahar, is pleased to announce the offer of 1000 scholarships to Afghan Nationals by the Government of India through the Indian Council for Cultural Relations, New Delhi for the academic year 2021-22.This is the 16th year of implementation of the on-going Special Scholarship Scheme for Afghan Nationals announced by the Prime Minister of India in December, 2005.

The details of the scheme, selection procedure and the registration procedure along with a “Time-line for the admission process,” are enclosed.

The scholarship scheme will cover tuition fees, accommodation, living allowances as per prescribed rules. However, it may be noted that there is no provision of airfare under the scheme and the selected students must obtain their personal medical insurance to avail the scholarships.

From this year, according to the New Admission Policy of ICCR, applications will be sent directly by the students themselves to the respective universities instead of through the Consulate General of India.

There will be no separate English Proficiency Test conducted by the Consulate General of India.

All qualified students of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan are welcome to apply for the scholarships.

Details of the scheme, selection procedure and the registration procedure of the 1000 scholarships sponsored by the Indian Council for Cultural Relations (ICCR) for Afghan Nationals for the academic year, 2021-2022.

This Scholarship Scheme under various disciplines covers Under-Graduate courses (B.A/B.Com/B.Sc/B.B.A/BCA), Post-Graduate courses (M.A/M.Sc/M.Com/MBA), Engineering courses (B.E/B.Tech/ M.E/M.Tech etc) and M.Phil/Ph.D in the academic courses during academic year 2021-22 in various universities throughout India.

2. The admission applications from interested Afghan students for academic year 2O21-22 will be invited online through ICCR's A2A Scholarship Portal http://a2ascholarships.iccr.gov.in. The A2A Scholarship Portal will be operational from 15th March 2021 for foreign students to apply for admission. For the academic year 2O21-22, a “Timeline for the admission process” has been set and is attached for reference.

3. The list of universities where ICCR students are enrolled is also available on the ICCR’s A2A Portal: http://a2ascholarships.iccr.gov.in. To ensure reputed institutes/universities, with accreditation of NAAC (A and above) rating / NIRF (rank between 1 - 150) are listed on the A2A Scholarship Portal for admission of foreign students through ICCR.

4. Applicants will now have the option to apply to 5 Universities /Institutes in the order of their preference of study. The admission, as far as possible, shall be given as per applicant's preference. However, there may be a situation when students do not get admission in their preferred Universities/Institutes due to limited number of seats on offer. Students should be prepared to receive admission from any of their five preferences.

5. For BE / B Tech courses, Physics, Chemistry and Mathematics (PCM) are compulsory in 11 and 12 grades of schooling and it is a mandatory requirement for Engineering courses. Mark sheets for each i.e., level 10 and 10+2 level of school should be uploaded along with the transcripts in English. The application will not be considered without English translation of documents if the original documents are not in English. It may also be noted that incomplete application will be summarily rejected by universities if documents are not in English or English translation is not provided. Students should be advised to thoroughly check their applications and attach requisite documents before submission of the application.

6. The Council does not arrange admission in Medical/ Paramedical (Nursing /Physiotherapy / anaesthesia etc.) / fashion courses.

7. Please note that for science courses, the expenditure on laboratory chemicals and other related incidental charges will be borne by the scholars themselves.

8. It should be highlighted that compulsory personal medical insurance is a mandatory requirement for availing of ICCR's scholarship. It is compulsory for all ICCR scholarship students to procure Medical Insurance policy with minimum sum assured for Indian Rupees Five Lakhs which is equivalent to US$ 6800/- per annum. Students can purchase medical insurance from any of the insurance companies of their choice. However, to facilitate students, A2A Portal has two insurance companies for referral purpose, under WHAT’s New on the home page.

9. It may be emphasized that prospective students should exercise due diligence and research well on the specific admission criteria laid down by the various universities for each subject and ensure that they submit all relevant documentation as required by the universities/University Grant Commission.

10. The Scholarship scheme will cover tuition fees, accommodation and living allowances. However, it may be noted that there is no provision of airfares under the scheme.

11. Prospective students should have good command over English Language and should be in good state of health. The application will not be considered without English translation of documents if the original documents are not in English. Students are advised to carefully and thoroughly check their applications and attach requisite documents before submission of the application.

12. The interested students may fill the online application form directly on following portal: http://a2ascholarships.iccr.gov.in. The A2A Scholarship Portal is operational from 15th of March 2021 and will be active up to 30th of April 2021, for Afghan students to apply for admission. The applications will be directly sent to Universities / Educational Institutions which will take an English language test and conduct online interviews before selecting the students. The rejected students will be informed of their result by the Universities / Institutions while those who have passed will get offer letters from the Embassy of India, Kabul or the Consulate General of India in Kandahar.

13. The Consulate General of India requests that the students (UG, PG, Engineering & M.Phil/Ph.D Courses), themselves upload their applications along with required documents on A2A ICCR Scholarship Portal http://a2ascholarships.iccr.gov.in. The applicants must be 18-years age and not more than 30-years of age at the time of admission in Indian Universities/Institutes for Under-Graduate & Post-Graduate courses. Ph.D students should not be more than 45-years of age during the process of confirming admission.

14. The students will have to submit a 500-words essay in English that has been introduced to ascertain their English Proficiency. Besides, students can also submit their TOFEL/IELTS etc. standardized Test scores, if available. ICCR is also requesting universities/institutes to conduct interview of the applicants on online mode.

15. There will be no separate English Proficiency Test by Embassy or Consulate General of India. The rejected candidate will be intimated directly by universities/institutes.

(Detailed guidelines on the process of applying for ICCR Scholarships online on the A2A Portal and the procedure and norms governing the same is given on the http://a2ascholarships.iccr.gov.in.

16. For any clarification/query, Shri Amit Sahai Mathur, Programme Director, Scholarship Division may be contacted on email: pdisd2.iccrgov.in , Landline No.+91-11-23379199 (Direct) / 23379309/10/14 (Extni 1137)

ICCR Admission Process
Timeline to be followed for the Academic Year 2021-22

15 March 2021	ICCR AA Portal for admissions open.
30 April 2021	Last date of application to be submitted by students (on-line only).
25 June 2021	Last date of Universities to inform about the status of applications.
05 July 2021	Last date of allocating scholarships by University.
12 July 2021	Last date of acceptances by students of the scholarships.
19 July 2021	Based on the number of acceptances in the first round (if acceptances are less than the scholarship seats allocated) offer of scholarships to other students who were not considered in the first round, may be made.
25 July 2021	Second round students, if any, to convey their acceptances.

Consulate General of India Kandahar, Afghanistan