Jaipur student wins Rs 1.3 crore scholarship

JAIPUR: Manu Rathore of Sawai Man Singh (SMS) Vidhyalaya of Jaipur has secured a seat in the bachelors degree programme in the prestigious Cornell University, US. The icing on the cake is that his four-year programme is fully funded. He was awarded a scholarship of Rs 1.3 crore by The Global Education and Leadership Foundation (TGELF).

Rathore was the head boy of his school and participated in various debates in India and abroad. He scored 92.6% marks in CBSE Class XII-Science, results of which announced on Monday. Like any other pure science (PCM) student, his dream was to become an IIT engineer.

However, destiny had different plans. While working on a project Consumer Awareness in Rural India' with Consumer Unity & Trust Society -- International (CUTS) in a village near Amber in Jaipur during summer vacation last year he developed interest in economics.

"I have realised a clear divide between the rural and urban India while working on the project. This gap can be bridged only with economic literacy," said Manu.

Since then, he decided to pursue a career in economics. He had consistently applied for various international universities. His efforts yielded result as he was selected in nine universities in US and UK, including Cornell University, on the basis of his application, SAT and TOEFL score for 2011-12 session.

"It was dream to make to Cornell but I decided to give it a miss due to its expensive fees. I started paper work for admission in California University, US," added Manu.

His school had nominated him for the prestigious TGELF scholarship. This proved to be twist in the tale. Considering his academic and extra-curricular activities, besides his performance in personal interview and group discussion, he got full funding of undergraduate studies worth Rs 1.3 crore.

"I am all set to leave for the US this August. I am willing to return to use my expertise in making our economic policies friendly for rural India," said Manu, who inherited interest in economics from his father Vijay Veer Singh, head of department of economics, Rajasthan University (RU).

Since, childhood he was participating in various RU competitions and workshops.. He belongs to a highly educated family with mother Uma Singh a income tax commissioner in Mumbai and elder sister Rashi Rathore pursuing dual degree programme on B-Tech and MBA from Narsee Monjee College in Mumbai.