Undergraduate medical students of Government Stanley Medical College who find it difficult to pay their college fees may soon have help at hand.
Alumni of the college have got together to set up a trust that will give scholarships to students from poor families.
The initiative is their gift to the college, which is celebrating its platinum jubilee this year, said P. Darwin, president of the Stanley alumni association.
The Stanley Alumni Trust will extend scholarships to at least four UG students in need of financial assistance during their medical course.
“Several students belonging to middle and low-income groups study at the college. Every year, we see at least four or five students struggling to pay their fees, as their families cannot afford the costs. Up until now, we used to make arrangements for such students to be sponsored by someone. With the college celebrating its 75 year though, we decided to form a trust and pool in funds to help these students,” Mr. Darwin said.
“Some students find it difficult to concentrate on their studies because of their financial constraints. The scholarships will be of immense help to them,” he added.
Another part of the gift, Mr. Darwin said, was the setting up of a website to deal with alumni affairs — www.stanleyalumni.com.
The website, apart from having a directory of ‘Stanleans’ (as the alumni are referred to) across the world, also provides a glimpse into the history of the institution.
“It will serve as a platform to bring the alumni of Stanley together. So far, around 80 persons have registered on the website. Any alumnus can log in and find their classmates on the site,” said Dinaker Moses, secretary of association.
This is not the first initiative the association has taken to help their alma mater. Earlier, alumni contributed towards starting an e-library, donated computers, set up a water treatment plant in the women’s hostel and installed LCD projectors in lecture rooms.
The alumni also supported the ‘Green Hands Project’, under which medical students cultivated and distributed saplings across the city, Mr. Moses said.
