Justice Ranjan Gogoi, Rajya Sabha Member and former Chief Justice of India, has decided to create a scholarship fund for law students using his Rajya Sabha salary.

Gogoi who was nominated to the Rajya Sabha in 2020 has not used a single penny from the salary and allowance that he is entitled to be paid by the Rajya Sabha.

He has donated his entire salary as a parliamentarian to fund the education of law students.

Any student, from any state, pursuing a five-year law degree will be eligible to get the money.

"This money should be of good use to students, especially those studying law. I am sure that the allowances and salary that are due to be paid to me for the last two years will be good enough to fund the education of at least 10 to 15 students." Gogoi told ANI

Notably, he provided free legal services during his stint as a lawyer at the Gauhati High Court.

He is planning to advertise the scholarship in the newspapers so that students can apply. The scholarship will start next month and will cover tuition fees and lodging charges for the students.

"Those students who are interested can e-mail their applications to the e-mail id provided by the concerned authorities by the end of this month," he said.

"Students further need to give details including their names, contact numbers, email addresses, physical address, name of the institution where they have enrolled as a student, details of the course scores that have been octane by them in the board exams along with a copy of the mark sheet along with family income proofs for the last three years along with an application not exceeded 200 words." Gogoi added further.

In reply to an RTI application, Rajya Sabha Secretariat had informed in August 2020 that Justice Gogoi was then the only MP not drawing either salary or allowance. The reply also mentioned that the government spends around Rs. 3 crores per month on salaries and allowances paid to the then 226 Rajya Sabha members.

ScholarshipJustice Ranjan Gogoi

Ashish Shaji