Promote scholarship schemes for the educational empowerment of minority communities

Promote scholarship schemes for the educational empowerment of minority communities

3542. SHRIMATI POONAMBEN MAADAM:

Will the Minister of MINORITY AFFAIRS be pleased to state:

(a) whether the Government has taken any steps to promote scholarship schemes for the educational empowerment of minority communities and if so, the details thereof;

(b) the details of the scholarship schemes implemented along with their eligibility criteria;

(c) whether the Government has any mechanism to ensure that the scholarships are provided to genuine beneficiaries; and

(d) if so, the details thereof?

(a) & (b): The Government has implemented various schemes for the welfare and upliftment of every strata, including minorities, especially the economically weaker and lesser privileged sections of the society, through various schemes of the Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship, Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment, Ministry of Textiles, Ministry of Culture, Ministry of Women and Child Development and Ministry of Rural Development.

Ministry of Minority Affairs has specifically implemented various schemes, including Pre- Matric, Post Matric and Merit-cum-Means Scholarship schemes, across the country for socio- economic and educational empowerment of the six notified minority communities.

i. Pre-Matric Scholarship Scheme- The scholarship is provided to minority students studying in Government/ Government notified private schools. Minimum 30% scholarships are earmarked for girls. To be eligible, students should not have annual parental/guardian’s income of more than ₹ 1.00 lakh and he/she should have secured minimum 50% marks in previous class.

ii. Post Matric Scholarship Scheme – The scholarship is provided to minority students studying in Class XI to Ph.D level in Government/recognized Private schools/Colleges/Institutes. Minimum 30% scholarships are earmarked for girls. To be eligible, students should not have annual parental/guardian’s income of more than ₹ 2.00 lakh and he/she should have secured minimum 50% marks in previous class.

iii. Merit-cum-Mean based Scholarship Scheme – The scholarship is awarded for pursuing professional and technical courses at under-graduate and post-graduate levels, in institutions recognized by the appropriate authority. Under the scheme, 30% Scholarships are earmarked for girl students. 85 institutes for professional and technical courses have been listed in the scheme; for which full course fee is reimbursed. To be eligible, students should not have annual parental/guardian’s income of more than ₹ 2.50 lakh and he/she should have secured minimum 50% marks in previous class.

(c) & (d): The Scheme has inbuilt provision of ensuring the genuineness of beneficiaries by way of carrying out de-duplication and red-flagging exercise. Further, in order to weed out the ingenuine beneficiaries, the Ministry has taken action for reverification of the applicants in a transparent manner to weed out the irregularities.

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