Over the next five years, the Modi government plans to offer post-matric scholarships to over four crore students belonging to the Scheduled Castes group, raising the number of current 60 lakh beneficiaries, senior BJP leader & Social Justice and Empowerment Minister Thawarchand Gehlot said.
He told reporters that the recent government decision to boost the Center's share of the scholarship to 60 percent and eventually increase it to 80 percent would result in a cumulative investment of over Rs 59,048 crore by 2025-26 and ensure that underprivileged students get monitory assistance on time.
In the last two years, under an earlier model, now revised by the Modi administration, the Centre had invested just around Rs 1,100 crore annually, which had contributed to an increase in state share, with almost half of the 36 states and Union territories not earning any contribution from the Union dispensation, he told reporters.
Money will now be sent directly to the bank account of the student and the Centre will only contribute once the state has done so, he added.
"This judgment is historic. It would raise academic standards. No state objected to our announcement,' said Gehlot, a Dalit face of the ruling party.
The proportion of post-metric scholarship students has risen to 23 from 17 in 2014-15, and the government is working to raise the number of recipients to 27 percent, he added.
BJP General Secretary Dushyant Kumar Gautam hit out at the Centre at the previous Congress-led UPA government addressing the press conference, alleging over 50 false lakh beneficiaries were getting scholarships at the expense of Dalit students.
Many states will not pay scholarships on time or use the fund for any other reasons due to lack of scholarship, resulting in increasing dropouts from SC students, he added, adding that this would change now.
In Congress-ruled Punjab, he alleged a scam, alleging a shortage of documentation concerning the state's list of scholarship beneficiaries.
Hailing the Modi government, he said it was working to construct memorials in honor of Bhimrao Ambedkar, the Dalit hero who, he claimed, had never earned proper respect from the previous regimes of Congress.
Last week, the Union Cabinet approved modifications to the centrally funded Post-Matric Scholarship Policy to support more than four Scheduled Caste students over the next five years and approved a cumulative expenditure for this reason of over Rs 59,000 crore.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi said that this decision would ensure better access to education for young people belonging to the SC classes. It is a significant field of focus for the government to provide our youth with high quality and affordable education, he mentioned in a tweet.
