Scholarships for minorities take a big hit as Centre slashes funds

New Delhi: The Union Government has significantly reduced funds for several scholarships and fellowships for meritorious students in a major overhaul.

The latest budgetary allocation for 12 main scholarships extended by various Union ministries to outstanding students in the school and higher education sectors reflected a drastic reduction of Rs 2,074.7 crore. The Centre, though, argues that many of the schemes have been combined together.

The maximum downsizing of funds was carried out with regard to the scholarships awarded by the Union Ministry of Minority Affairs. The allocation for seven out of eight scholarships under the Ministry of Minority Affairs was reduced substantially. An amount of Rs 1,000 crore was slashed in the case of pre-metric scholarships alone.

The Centre had discontinued the pre-metric scholarships to students of minority communities studying in Classes 1 to 8 in November last. It also decided to stop the Maulana Azad National Fellowship (MANF), citing the provision of similar scholarships including the Junior Research Fellowship (JRF) scheme.

The allocation of funds for Merit-cum-Means Scholarships for professional/technical courses, the educational aid being extended to madrassas and similar institutions, and the like also witnessed a cut.

If a sum of Rs 3,482.85 crore was allocated last time with regard to 11 scholarships, this time around, the budgetary allocation was only Rs 1,732 crore, a fall of Rs 1,750.85 crore.

Though there was an increase in the allocation of funds for 15 scholarships, including the post-metric scholarship for minority communities, the hike is meager, according to experts.

While an amount of Rs 10,606 crore was set aside for projects, including the Prime Minister's Research Fellows (PMRF) Scheme, in FY 2022-23, this time around the allocation is Rs 12, 467.56 crore, an increase of Rs 1,861.56 crore.