Bhubaneswar, May 15: Chief minister Naveen Patnaik will felicitate the top 100 students of the first Pathani Samanta Mathematics Talent Scholarship Examination on May 18.

Launched by the school and mass education department, the merit-based scholarship scheme aims at promoting mathematical talents at primary and secondary school levels.

About 7,500 poor and meritorious students in rural Odia-medium government schools, both aided and unaided, will be covered under this programme. A selection procedure was conducted in three stages for students of classes VI to XII for the scholarship examination.