Jaipur, Oct 7 (IANS): Here's some good news for students from Rajasthan who had dreams to pursue studies in elite foreign universities but financial crunch was aborting their dreams.

To help such students, the Ashok Gehlot government of Rajasthan will now bear the expenses of 200 meritorious students of the state and help them to pursue higher education in selected 50 institutions of the world like Oxford, Harvard and Stanford University.

Minister for higher education Bhanwar Singh Bhati informed that the Ashok Gehlot announced the scheme last year on August 20 on the birth anniversary of Rajiv Gandhi. The department has invited applications from October 22.

The Rajiv Gandhi Scholarship for Academic Excellence (RGS) scheme has been implemented from the ongoing session.

"Those interested can fill the application from October 22. Under this, financial assistance will be provided for studies at the undergraduate, postgraduate, Ph.D and post doctoral level in 50 reputed institutes of the world like Oxford, Harvard and Stanford University. The state government will bear the entire expenditure of the students including fare, tuition fees etc," he added.

Bhati said that scholarship will be provided for undergraduate level courses for the study of subjects related to humanities. Every year, out of 200 meritorious students, 30 percent of the scholarships will be made available to 60 girl students. Before applying for the scholarship, applicants should get admission in the relevant foreign institution. Under this scheme, preference will be given to the candidates having family income less than 8 lakh per year, he added.