Twenty Sri Lankan students have been selected to study Hindi in India under the Government of India’s “Propagation of Hindi Abroad” scholarship programme.
The Government of India will sponsor the students’ travel, academic fees and local hospitality for the 10-month course at the Kendriya Hindi Sansthan (KHS) in Agra from August 2026 to May 2027.
Ahead of their departure, Indian High Commissioner to Sri Lanka Santosh Jha met with the students on Aug. 4 and highlighted the role of the Hindi language and literature in strengthening the millennia-old cultural, linguistic, literary and spiritual ties between India and Sri Lanka. He also discussed the linguistic links between Hindi and Sinhala and conveyed his best wishes to the students.
The selected students include five from the University of Sri Jayewardenepura, one each from the University of Ruhuna and the Sri Palee Campus of the University of Colombo, three from Rajarata University in Anuradhapura and eight from the University of Kelaniya.
Hindi is taught at around 100 institutions in Sri Lanka, including several leading schools and universities.
The Swami Vivekananda Cultural Centre, the cultural arm of the High Commission of India, has coordinated the scholarship programme since 2011. Over the past 14 years, more than 200 Sri Lankan students have received the scholarship, the Indian High Commission in Colombo said. (Newswire)