The first of the 31 Dr Ambedkar Centre of Excellence in the central universities of the country is going to come up at Banaras Hindu University (BHU) on April 22, Friday. 

Under the scheme of the Ministry of Social Justice & Empowerment, Government of India, this centre will offer free-of-cost coaching for Civil Services exams to Scheduled Caste (SC) students. 

Moreover, each centre will have 100 seats and preferably, 33 per cent of the seats will be given to those female candidates from the SC category who are eligible. What's more? Students will need to attempt an entrance test to undergo coaching at the centre which will have separate classrooms, WiFi facility, library and other facilities, as required. Each centre will have three appointed faculty members. 

The Dr Ambedkar Centre of Excellence at BHU will be inaugurated by Dr Virendra Kumar, Social Justice and Empowerment Minister, Government of India. Anandiben Patel, Governor, Uttar Pradesh and Prof Sudhir K Jain, Vice-Chancellor, BHU will also be present. The programme will take place at Shatabdi Krishi Prekshagrih, Institute of Agricultural Sciences, BHU. 

Guests in attendance will be senior officials for the Government of India, the Government of Uttar Pradesh and officials from Dr Ambedkar Foundation. There will be two MoUs signed between Dr Ambedkar Foundation and respective universities for setting up the centres and Dr Ambedkar Chairs as well.