SPARSH stands for Scholarship for Promotion of Aptitude & Research in Stamps as a Hobby.
Scheme:
- It is a pan India scholarship program for school children to increase the reach of Philately.
- Under the scheme, annual scholarships will be awarded to children of Standard VI to IX having good academic record and also pursuing Philately as hobby through competitive selection process in all postal circles.
- Government will award 920 scholarships to students pursuing Philately as hobby.
- The amount of Scholarship will be Rs. 6000/- per annum @ Rs. 500/- per month.
- The selections will be made based on evaluation of Project work on philately & performance in Philately Quiz conducted by Circles.
What is Philately?
- Philately is hobby of collection and study of Postage stamps.
- It also entails collection, appreciation and research activities on stamps and other related philatelic products.
- The hobby includes seeking, locating, acquiring, organizing, cataloguing, displaying, storing, and maintaining the stamps or related products on thematic areas.
- It is also called king of hobbies because stamp collection as hobby has lot of educational benefits as it teaches lot about socio economic political reality of period in which stamp is issued or theme on which it is issued.