An Indian student whose mental health battle inspired his academic career has won a prestigious Dundee University scholarship honouring Scotland’s first non-white elected politician.
Rajvir Singh has travelled to the city from Bangalore after landing the £5,000 Jainti Dass Saggar Memorial Scholarship for Excellence.
Fellow countryman Saggar was a successful doctor and served as an influential councillor in Dundee as a Labour member for 18 years, until his death in 1954.
He had endured a 26-day sea journey to study Medicine at University College Dundee – the forerunner of Dundee University – arriving in the city in 1919.
The fund is given to an aspiring student from India each year who reflects the values of Dr Saggar, who was born in Punjab in 1898.
Mental health ‘stigma’ inspires Rajvir
Rajvir, who is studying Psychology with French at the university, explained that his personal experiences lay behind his choice of course.
He said: “I wanted to study Psychology because I, like many others, have struggled with mental health.
“Even though support is available in India, there’s a lot of social stigma around it, so I did not have access to it.
“I’m very grateful to have been awarded the Saggar Scholarship. My hope is to use my education to become a therapist, so I can be the kind of support for others that I didn’t always get.”
Dr Saggar’s mark on Dundee was deemed so influential a West End street was named after him.
He became a local GP after graduating in 1923 and in 1931 married Dundonian woman Jean Quinn.
They had two daughters, Sheila and Kamala.
One of his lasting legacies was his work to improve the quality of school meals, at a time when little attention was paid to nutrition.
He also helped open a psychiatric clinic for early mental health treatment and argued for the provision of 20 communal canteens for Dundee’s poor.
Scholarship funding at Dundee
His fellow countryman Rajvir has also been awarded the Global Excellence Scholarship, worth £6,000 per year.
It is given to students who show excellence through their academic activities and have travelled internationally to study in the UK.
Rajvir said: “I did not want to study anywhere other than the UK.”
“The US is too expensive, and although I applied to a few Asian countries, their education system is not suitable for English-speakers.”
Conversation