Karnataka CM's pet scheme grows big, matric scholarship fades

Of the 10.03 lakh children covered at a cost of Rs 439.94 crore, more than half are from a dozen north Karnataka districts, a key political catchment for BJP

More than 10 lakh students have benefited under Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai's pet Raitha Vidya Nidhi -- most of them from North Karnataka -- and the flagship scheme appears to be elbowing out the pre- and post-matric scholarships, data shows.

While the Raitha Vidya Nidhi scheme, which was one of Bommai's first welfare measures after assuming office, is likely to add lakhs of students going forward, scholarships for backward classes students are suffering due to lack of funds.

Under Vidya Nidhi, agriculturists' children studying in high school (girls only), PU or ITI, degree, LLB/para medical, B Pharm, MBBS, engineering and postgraduation get an annual scholarship ranging from Rs 2,000 to Rs 11,000.

Of the 10.03 lakh children covered at a cost of Rs 439.94 crore, more than half are from a dozen north Karnataka districts, a key political catchment for the ruling BJP. Bommai is banking on the Vidya Nidhi scheme to earn goodwill among voters.

"While the scheme isn't area-specific, it could be that there are more farmers in north Karnataka," Agriculture Commissioner B Sharat told DH. "Also, students are actively seeking out this scholarship."

Bommai himself has estimated that Vidya Nidhi would go on to cover 20 lakh beneficiaries with the scheme extended to the children of agricultural labourers, weavers, fishermen and taxi drivers with an outlay of Rs 1,042 crore.

In contrast, the pre-matric scholarship (Classes 1-10) for backward class students was not rolled out fully in 2020-21 and 2021-22.

In 2020-21, the pre-matric scholarship was paid only to Class 6-10 students. In 2021-22, it was given to Class 7-10 students, Backward Classes Welfare Minister Kota Srinivas Poojary said in a written reply to the Assembly. In terms of outlay, the government gave Rs 105.34 crore in 2020 for 11.22 lakh students. This fell to Rs 81.91 crore for 8.62 lakh students last year. Post-matric scholarships (after Class 10) were not paid at all in 2020 and 2021.

Extending the scheme to children of agricultural labourers will mean adding an estimated six lakh beneficiaries, according to Sharat. "We are working on agricultural labour data. We did not get proper numbers from the Census, so we are looking at using MGNREGA data as the basis," he said.

The government has planned to pilot the Vidya Nidhi scheme for agricultural labour in Belagavi, Haveri (the district from where Bommai is elected) and Kolar. "We have information on land from Bhoomi and farmers from our FRUITS database. We are looking to overlay this with MGNREGA data," Sharat said.