Dignitaries at the celebration of the STARS scheme at the VIT campus in Vellore.
| Photo Credit: Special Arrangement
The Vellore Institute of Technology (VIT) has distributed scholarships to the tune of ₹103 crore for government school students under its flagship programme Support The Advancement of Rural Students (STARS) scheme since its inception way back in 2008, said G. Viswanathan, founder and Chancellor, VIT.
In his presidential address at the STARS Day celebration event, which was organised by VIT in its campus here, Mr. Viswanathan said that the scheme was aimed to support high-achieving students from rural government schools who secure excellent marks in higher secondary examinations but lack the financial means to pursue further education. “So far, 1,200 students have benefited under the scheme. The VIT has borne the entire cost of their education, accommodation, and food, amounting to ₹103 crore,” he said.
The Chancellor highlighted the transformative power of education in addressing inequality. “Governments should provide free education — that alone is sufficient. Students will make the most of it. Providing free education will end the need to give freebies to fulfill the aspirations of people as it will help them earn a decent livelihood for themselves ,” he said.
The educationalist said that Nordic countries such as Norway, Sweden, Denmark, Finland, and Iceland have achieved remarkable progress through strong education systems and robust social welfare models. A democratic country like India could learn valuable lessons from their development strategies that could help the overall growth of the country, he said.
On the occasion, District Collector P.S. Leela Alex, , HCL, Sankar Viswanathan and Sekar Viswanathan, vice-presidents, and Prince Jayakumar, Head (Human Resources), VIT, were present.
Published – July 18, 2026 11:57 pm IST
