NEW DELHI:The Begum Hazrat Mahal scholarship, which was till now meant for providing financial assistance to girls wanting to study after Class X, will now also fund girls from the six notified minority communities—Muslim, Christian, Sikh, Buddhist, Jain, and Parsi—who are studying in Class IX-XII, from this year.
The scholarship will be awarded to students who have secured at least 50 per cent marks or equivalent grade in aggregate in the previous class. The annual income of a student’s parents/guardian should not exceed `2 lakh. The Begum Hazrat Mahal scholarship is funded by Maulana Azad Foundation, which comes under the Ministry of Minority Affairs.
Treasurer of the Maulana Azad Foundation, Shakir Hussain Ansari, said more than 2.41 lakhs applications have been received for the scholarship this year, which has been digitalised for the first time. “We have received a record-breaking number of applications this year at 2,41,319. This time, the government is likely to increase the funds for the scholarship. It is a win-win situation for girls belonging to the minority community.” Though Ansari did not reveal the exact increase in funds of the scholarship, he said it will be substantial. According to sources, the government has received 50,559 applications for Class IX; 47,254 for Class X; 90,715 for Class XI; and 52, 791 for Class XII. According to government data accessed by The New Indian Express, 33,482 girls availed the scholarship in 2016-2017. The maximum beneficiaries were from Uttar Pradesh (7,979), followed by Kerala (5,944), Karnataka (4,367) and Tamil Nadu (2,385).