To encourage learning about the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) among the youth of the country, the RBI conducts a major awareness and sensitization exercise on the role of the Reserve Bank and the banking system across the country. This exercise, ‘RBI Young Scholars Award Scheme’ exposes youngsters to an actual banking and financial environment and inculcates a sense of pride in the selected ones of having had the opportunity to associate themselves with a prestigious organisation, the central bank of the country.

1. Eligibility

(A) Educational Qualification: All students across India who have completed 10 + 2 years of formal education or its equivalent from recognized institutions/boards in 2010 or before and are currently pursuing their undergraduate studies. However, those having enrolled for or having acquired degree(s) higher than graduation will not be eligible. Candidates who have qualified and worked at RBI as a Young Scholar in any of the previous years are not eligible to apply again.

(B) Age: Candidates should be of age 18 years or more but less than 23 years as on September 1, 2010.

2. Number of Seats

A maximum of 150 young scholars would be awarded scholarship by the RBI every year under the scheme. Out of these, a maximum of 50 candidates may be selected through a test conducted in English medium. The rest, up to a maximum number of 100, shall be selected on regional basis through a test conducted in vernacular medium.

3. Entrance Examination

The entrance exam will be conducted in English, Hindi and 11 other regional languages. The regional languages will be Assamese, Bengali, Gujarati, Kannada, Malayalam, Marathi, Oriya, Punjabi, Tamil, Telugu and Urdu. The exam will be held at around 100 different locations spread all across the country. The indicative List of Centres is given in this notification.

4. Examination Pattern

The examination will be of objective type with multiple choices for answers. The paper will be of approximately 90 minutes duration and will have questions related to role and functioning of the RBI, the trend of banking industry in India and general economic and financial environment of the country.

5. How to prepare for the Exam

All related information including the syllabus for the examination is available on the RBI Website link www.rbi.org.in/youngscholars.

6. Placements and Project Assignment

The selected All India candidates and the Regional Candidates will be placed at the nearest Regional Office designated for the purpose, depending on the size of the office. The selected candidates will be required to work within the RBI on projects/assignments allocated to them by the respective Regional Director of RBI. They will be expected to complete the same in a reasonable time, subject to a maximum of 3 calendar months.

7. Stipend

During their stint with the RBI, they will be paid a consolidated monthly stipend of Rs.7500/- per head. For broken periods, the amount will be calculated on a pro rata basis.

8. Accommodation

During their stay with the RBI, the selected scholars who do not have a place to reside at the centre of placement will be assisted with accommodation for the duration of their project.

9. How to Apply

Candidates willing to apply for the scholarship may apply in the prescribed application form available on http://www.rbi.org.in/youngscholars.aspx either on line or offline. There is no fee for application or examination.

(A) Guidelines for Online Application

• Candidates should have a valid email ID.
• Go to the website and follow the instructions.
• After applying online, the registered candidates should obtain a system generated printout of the registered information and sign at the appropriate place. A recent photograph should be pasted on the print-out and sent along with attested copies of the certificate on the address given below :

(B) Guidelines for filling Application Offline

• Go to the website www.rbi.org.in/youngscholars
• Download the application form for off-line mode.
• Fill the form completely and paste your photograph at the appropriate place, sign at appropriate space and attach attested copies of all the relevant documents.

All applications - sent online or offline - should be sent to the given address by ordinary post only.
Superscribe the envelope 'Application for the RBI Young Scholars Award Scheme 2010-11'

10. Last Date for Receipt of Application

The application and/or print-outs of application made online should reach the address mentioned above before October 22, 2010 by ordinary post. For the candidates staying abroad and for those posting print-out from Andaman & Nicobar Islands, Lakshadweep, Minicoy Islands, Assam, Meghalaya, Arunachal Pradesh, Mizoram, Manipur, Nagaland, Tripura, Sikkim, Ladakh Division of J & K State, Lahaul and Spiti District and Pangi Sub-Division of Chamba District of Himachal Pradesh, the last date for receipt of Print-out will be October 30, 2010. A print-out received after the last date will not be entertained.

The Reserve Bank of India/Institute of Banking Personnel Selection (IBPS) will not be responsible for any loss of application/print-out in transit or for rejection of application print-out because of non-receipt of print-out on or before the stipulated date.

11. List of Centres for the Written Examination

12. List of Project Centers

13. Call Letter for the Written Test

Call letters for the written test to be held on January 9, 2011 will be posted to all the candidates through ordinary post under certificate of posting well in advance. However, if somebody does not get the same by January 5, 2011 he/she should download the same from the RBI website. To download the duplicate call letter candidates should know their application registration number which will also be sent by e-mail to the candidates who provide a valid email-id. Alternately, name and date of birth details can also be used for downloading the call letter from the website.

Courtesy: rbi.org.in