BENGALURU: Lakhs of students selected for scholarships for the academic year 2018-19 under the Department of Minority Welfare are in a fix. They are yet to receive their first instalment from the Central scheme. For many of these applicants, the scholarship amount is the sole financial source for their education. Officials have confirmed that the number is as high as 10 lakh of 15 lakh eligible applicants.
These students include those from pre-matric (class one-10) to post-matric (class 11 to PhD) and merit-cum-means scholarship (professional and technical courses) and belong to the Jain, Buddhist, Parsi, Muslim, Christian, and Sikh communities.
Karnataka government is ready with funds and process to pay scholarship amounts to the beneficiaries, but cannot do so until the Central list is put out. And the Minority department cites ‘elections’ as the reason for the delay.
As per an order of the state government to the department officials on May 16, Rs 220 crore has already been set aside for the current academic year 2019-20 Yet, beneficiaries of the previous year (2018-19) are still awaiting their first instalment of the scholarship amount.
“I am on the brink of leaving my PhD because I don’t have sufficient funds to do my field work and I have not applied for any other scholarship as I was promised this,” said Suman Rao (name changed), a PhD student studying outside the state, and like many of her counterparts relies on the scholarship amount to make her higher education affordable.
Another student Farah (also, name changed), studying medicine, said she had applied in 2017 and had received her first instalment only in January. “I received a confirmation mail in December 2018 and a scholarship of Rs 25,000 in January 2019. There was no instalment after that. Through communication, the department said the delay for the subsequent instalments was because of “elections”.
A state government official said they were given the same reason by the department for delay in sending the list of beneficiaries under the Central government.
Without the list, they are unable to run the state scholarship scheme, which runs simultaneously for students who are rejected scholarship by the Central government — as those rejected by the Central scheme still are beneficiaries under the state scheme.
The two lists and the first instalment normally come in March, but the list is long delayed this time, said officials.
“The effect trickles down to that one poor child who is desperately in need of money to study. The state government is ready with the Direct Benefit Transfer.
As soon as the lists arrive from the Central government, process at the state level starts. Government of India has to speed up the process. The ball is in their court and so far no assurances have been made yet by them. At present, scholarships are pending for 10 lakh students of the 15 lakh applicants,” said Ada Fathima, Assistant Director, Department of Minorities.