Prayagraj, Dec. 11 -- Sanskrit students in Uttar Pradesh, from class 6 to the postgraduate level, are set to receive their long-awaited scholarships early in the New Year. Applications for the chief minister's Sanskrit Scholarship Scheme have begun and will remain open until December 21. Officials said that once applications and verification are completed, scholarship funds will start reaching the bank accounts of nearly 70,000 students from 14 January. They added that the shift to a fully online system for applying and distributing funds caused some delays this year. Around 1.25 lakh students are studying in 403 government-aided Sanskrit colleges and 570 secondary Sanskrit schools across the state. The scheme was first launched on October 27, 2024 at Sampurnanand Sanskrit University, where 69,195 students received scholarships worth Rs.5.86 crore. A similar number of students are expected to benefit this year. For the 2025-26 academic session, the state government has doubled the budget to Rs.20 crore. Last year, the budget was Rs.10 crore, of which about Rs.6 crore was distributed. State inspector of Sanskrit Schools, Pawan Srivastava, confirmed that online applications started on December 8. Students must submit a hard copy of their form to their school by December 21. Principals will verify and upload applications between December 11 and 23 and then send the hard copies to the district inspector of Schools (DIoS) office by Dec 24. The DIoS will complete the final verification between December 25 and 28 . Under the scheme, students receive monthly scholarships as follows, Rs.50 for classes 6-7, Rs.75 for class 8, Rs.100 for classes 9-10, Rs.150 for classes 11-12, Rs.200 for undergraduates and Rs.250 for postgraduates. Students must have at least 75% attendance and a minimum 50% marks in their previous class to qualify. htc...