The University Grants Commission has written to all higher educational institutions, calling for applications for the mentorship scheme for young authors.

In a letter to colleges and universities, UGC Secretary Rajnish Jain said PM-YUVA 2.0 was launched with the support of the National Book Trust and the Union Ministry of Education Ministry, and was aimed at training aspiring authors aged below 30.

Candidates would be chosen for the scholarship based on their ability to articulate their thoughts on Indian democracy. Contestants may write about democracy (institutions, events, people, and constitutional values).

A national contest was launched on October 2, and each contestant may send in one entry in any of the 22 languages found in Schedule 8 of the Constitution. Contestants must submit their entry (non-fiction prose, not more than 5,000 words) before November 30 in a typed format.

The contest is open only to the youth of Indian origin and persons of Indian origin holding Indian passport. A total of 75 authors would be chosen by a national jury and will be paid ₹50,000 a month for six months. The submissions would be evaluated by January 31 next and the jury would meet on February 15 and 16 to select the winners. The names would be announced on February 28 and the mentorship would be from March 1 to August 31.

The details of the contest are available on www.nbtindia.gov.in and www.mygov.in.