Minority Dept: Scholarship target for 2012-13: 75 Lakh Pre-Matric, 9.5 Lakh Post-Matric

New Delhi: The Ministry of Minority Affairs has set a target of distributing 75 lakh Pre-matric Scholarships to the students belonging to Minority communities (from class I to class X) during the current FY 2012-13. Thus this target is more than double the number that was set as target during the last FY 2011-12 (34 lakh scholarships) - although the Ministry distributed a total of 55,28,557 scholarships during 2011-12.

During 2011-12, some 51.01% scholarships went to girl students. For distributing these scholarships, the Ministry released an amount of Rs. 615.47 crore during 2011-12. The Plan Budget for Pre-matric Scholarship Scheme during 2012-13 is set at Rs. 900 crore.

Pre-matric Scholarship Scheme was started in 2008-09 and a cumulative total of over 1.22 crore scholarships have been awarded till 31.3.2012. Pre-matric Scholarship Scheme is one of the three scholarship schemes of the Ministry of Minority Affairs included under the Prime Minister's New 15 Point Programme for the Welfare of Minorities.

Meanwhile, 9.5 Lakh scholarships have been set as target under the Post-Matric Scholarship Scheme of the Ministry of Minority Affairs during 2012-13.

This target is more than 80% of the number that was set as target during the last FY 2011-12 (5.25 lakh scholarships) - although the Ministry distributed a total of 7,01,950 Post-matric scholarships during 2011-12. Some 53.49 % scholarships under this category went to girl students. For distributing these scholarships, the Ministry released an amount of Rs. 362.99 crore during 2011-12. The Plan Budget for Post-matric Scholarship Scheme during 2012-13 is set at Rs. 500 crore.

Post-matric Scholarships of the Ministry of Minority Affairs are provided to students belonging to the Minority communities for studies from class XI up to Ph.D. level. The Scheme was launched in the year 2007-08 and a cumulative total of 18.09 lakh scholarships have been awarded till 31st March 2012.

It is to be noted that a parliamentary panel, MPs delegation and minority ministers from states have recommended to make these minority scholarship schemes demand-driven, but the ministry seems to have not considered the recommendation. Moreover, there have been large scale complaints of scholarship amount not reaching students despite their selection and names enlisted on the website of the concerned departments in states, and thus there was a recommendation to deposit the amount directly to the accounts of the students. This demand is also yet to be considered.

Source: Two Circles

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