The 63rd meeting of Shri Mata Vaishno Devi Shrine Board was held at Raj Bhavan under the chairmanship of Governor Satya Pal Malik, Chairman of the Shrine Board.The Board while reviewing the functioning of the Shri Mata Vaishno Devi Gurukul, Charan Paduka, Katra, in an important decision approved a scheme for institutionalising fellowships for the top 5 meritorious students of Shastri classes of the Gurukul for pursuing Acharya or equivalent Post-Graduation Course in Sanskrit, Jyotish, Darshan and Ved streams in the leading institutions of the country. The merit fellowships will be provided to the students for a period of 2 years based on their academic performance during three years of the Shastri Course. The amount of fellowship to be provided by the Shrine Board will be Rs. 48,000/- per annum to the meritorious scholar.The meeting was attended by Dr. S. S. Bloeria, Dr. Ashok Bhan, Mr. H. L. Maini, Mr. Justice (Retd) Permod Kohli, Maj. Gen. (Retd) Shiv Kumar Sharma and Mr. B. B. Vyas, all Board Members; and Mr. B V R Subrahmanyam, Chief Secretary; Mr. Umang Narula, Principal Secretary to the Governor, Mr. Dheeraj Gupta, Chief Executive Officer of the Shrine Board, Mr. Simrandeep Singh, designate Chief Executive Officer of the Shrine Board, Dr. M. K. Kumar and Mr. Anshul Garg, Additional Chief Executive Officers.Presently, 162 students are studying from class 6th to Shastri Part-II in this fully residential institution which was established by the Shrine Board in 2010. Education, boarding, lodging, books, uniforms etc. are being provided to the students by the Shrine Board totally free of cost. The Gurukul is affiliated to the Sampurnanand Sanskrit Vishwavidyala, Varanasi.