‘Meagre’ number of SC/ST scholarships, notes Parliament panel; asks income ceiling be raised

The number of scholarships for Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes students in pre-matric courses is ‘meagre’, a Parliamentary panel has noted in the report. The scholarships for post-matric courses for these students was lesser, and the panel said that resources remain undertapped, and funds are underutilised. The panel has now recommended that the annual income ceiling of parents be raised.

The number of SC/ST beneficiaries who received pre-matric scholarships for the year 2017-18 was 10234, in 2018-19 it was 10195, 10634 in 2019-20, 9892 in 2020-21 and 7436 in 2021-22. Over 690 students of the SC/ST community in 2017-18 received post-matric scholarships, in 2018-19 there were 818 beneficiaries, 20124 beneficiaries in 2019-20, 21212 in 2020-21 and 852 in 2021-22.

The Parliamentary Committee on the Welfare of Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes, headed by BJP MP Kirit P Solanki, said that the panel was ‘perturbed’ to see that the number of students receiving scholarship from the year 2017-18 to 2021-22 are on a constant downfall. The report examines the role of autonomous bodies and educational Institutions including central universities, engineering colleges, IIMs, IITs, and medical institutes in socio-economic development of SCs and STs, with a special reference to pre-matric and post-matric scholarships in Navodaya Vidyalayas and Kendriya Vidyalayas.

To offset the impact of inflation, the panel said that the scholarship amount for various categories of beneficiaries must be revised to meet the basic cost of pre-matric and post-matric level of education in a given year, and asked that the states form Committees that furnish revision plans.

The panel has further asked the ministry to increase the annual income ceiling of parents. “The Committee are of the view that the ceiling of parents’ income limit of Rs. 2.5 lakh should be raised considering the current cost of living and economic growth rates. The Committee are dismayed to note that while the ceiling limit for economically weaker sections has been increased from 6 lakhs to 8 lakhs, the same parameters have not been applied for SC/ST students. The Committee would like to censure this discriminatory action of the Ministry,” the panel noted.

As on December 31, 2021, the total students in Kendriya Vidyalaya Sangathan is 14,35,562, of which 2,87,784 (or 20.04 percent students belong to SC category and 90,173 students (6.28 percent) belong to ST category. In each institute, a minimum of 15 percent of seats for SC and 7.5 percent for ST must be set aside, but the combined reservation of both the communities should not cross 50 percent.

The pre-matric scholarships given to SC/ST students by the ministry of social justice and empowerment as well as the ministry of tribal affairs is Rs 225 monthly for day scholars and Rs 525 for hostelers, for 10 months a year. In addition, Rs 750 and Rs 1000 respectively is given per annum to day scholars and hostelers for books and other costs.

Post-matric scholarship for degree and post graduate level professional courses are Rs 13500 and Rs 7000 yearly for day scholars and hostellers respectively, Rs 6000 and Rs 3000 annually for day scholars and hostellers respectively to pursue graduate and post-graduate courses.