Implemented in India through UDIS Forum and All India Confederation of the Blind (AICB), merit scholarships are awarded for undergraduate, post graduate and B.Ed courses. AICB has been implementing this Scheme since 2000-2001 and has, so far, granted 659 merit scholarships of Rs. 73,11,466/- for educational empowerment of visually impaired girls in the country.  

Continuing its endeavour to support the cause of development in India, today the German Embassy, which has extended its support to the AICB in the past, approved 137 scholarships.

On that occasion, the German Ambassador to India Michael Steiner said: “Through their cooperation,  Marga Schulze-Foundation and AICB help visually impaired girls to lead their lives with pride and ability. This is a living example of Indo-German commitment which benefits people in need.”

Already in 2010, the German Embassy initiated a 5,000-euro agreement to sponsor 22 Perkins Braillers for the visually impaired.

Started in 1996 by Dr. Hans-Eugen Schulze, himself a visually impaired person and a retired judge of the Federal Court of Germany, the Marga Schulze Foundation routes assistance through CBM, a leading international organization committed to the cause of services for persons with disabilities for over a 100 years. The German NGO has been supportive of AICB for over a decade. Every year, the German Embassy chairs the selection committee for the initial screening and selection of the candidates.