Centre allots just 5 seats to Telangana for Visvesvaraya PhD scheme; BJP States get more

112 full time and part time candidates from Telangana benefited in the first phase of Visvesvaraya PhD scheme.

Hyderabad: The BJP-led union government’s discrimination towards Telangana has once become evident, this time in the form of allocation of seats under Phase II of the Visvesvaraya PhD scheme.

The Centre had initiated the Visvesvaraya PhD Scheme with an aim to enhance the number of PhDs in Electronics System Design & Manufacturing (ESDM) and IT/IT Enabled Services (IT/ITES) sectors, including AI and Emerging Technologies.

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TRS MP B Parthasaradhi Reddy raised a question in Rajya Sabha on the steps taken by the union government to train youth in Artificial Intelligence. Union Minister of State for Electronics and Information Technology Rajeev Chandrasekhar said the Government considered Artificial Intelligence (AI) to be a kinetic enabler for the growth of the digital economy, investments and jobs.

Briefing about the various initiatives taken by the Government to expand AI ecosystem, the union Minister said Visvesvaraya PhD Scheme was envisaged to enhance the number of PhDs in electronics system design and manufacturing.

Accordingly, 112 full time and part time candidates from Telangana benefited in the first phase of Visvesvaraya PhD scheme. Interestingly, in the second phase, only five seats were allocated to Telangana in the full time category, while BJP-ruled States were allocated more seats. The highest number of 19 seats was allocated to Karnataka, followed by 17 to Maharashtra, 11 to Uttar Pradesh and seven to Gujarat.

State-wise seat allocations for Visvesvaraya PhD scheme in Phase-II

Telangana – 5
Gujarat – 7
Karnataka – 19
Maharashtra – 17
Uttar Pradesh – 11