Government launches philately promotion programme

New Delhi, Nov 4: Union Communications Minister Manoj Sinha on Friday launched a pan-India scholarship programme for school children, called Deen Dayal Sparsh Yojana, to increase the reach of philately, an official said.

Philately is the hobby of collecting and studying postage stamps.

Under the scheme of Scholarship for Promotion of Aptitude and Research in Stamps as a Hobby (Sparsh), the programme proposes to award annual scholarships to children from Standard VI to IX having good academic record and also pursuing philately as a hobby through a competitive selection process in all postal circles.

In a government statement, Sinha said under the scheme, it was proposed to award 920 scholarships to students pursuing philately as a hobby.

Every postal circle will select a maximum of 40 scholarships representing 10 students each from Standard VI, VII, VIII and IX. The amount of Scholarship will be Rs 6,000 per annum divided into 12 parts at Rs 500 a month.

Stamp collection as a hobby has lot of educational benefits as it teaches a lot about the socio economic political reality of the period in which the stamp is issued or the theme on which it is issued.