India, July 17 -- Hundreds of students from Maharashtra who have secured admission to universities in the United Kingdom under various state government scholarship schemes are facing uncertainty after a change in UK immigration rules. The new policy issued by the UK Visas and Immigration (UKVI) states that only funding from national or federal governments will be accepted as official financial sponsorship for student visa applications. Financial support from state or regional governments, including the Maharashtra government, will no longer be accepted for this purpose.

The new rule has affected students from scheduled castes, scheduled tribes, other backward classes (OBC), VJNT, SBC, minority communities, and general category scholarshi...