NEW DELHI: The Narendra Modi government has halved the budget allocation for minority community candidates appearing for the UPSC exams. Students from the minority communities are given free and subsidised coaching under the ‘Support for students clearing prelims conducted by UPSC, SSC, State Public Service Commission etc’ scheme.
The funds for the scheme have come down to Rs 10 crore from last year’s Rs 20 crore. The government had increased the budget for this scheme last year (2019-2020) from Rs 8 crore to Rs 20 crore but the Revised Expenditure for last year (2019-2020) shows the allocation of Rs 10 crore.
The budget allocation for the ‘Free Coaching and Allied schemes for Minorities’ has also been slashed from Rs 75 crore in FY 2019-20 to Rs 50 crore. Under this scheme, minorities are provided free coaching to prepare for admission in technical and professional courses.
The overall budget allocated to the Ministry of Minority Affairs, however, has been increased from Rs 4,700 crore to Rs 5,029 crore. In 2017, over 50 Muslim candidates had cleared the UPSC exams, creating a new record, which was repeated in 2018.
The Sachar Committee report released, published in 2006, had shown that Muslims comprised only 3 per cent in the civil services despite it being the largest minority community. The budget for Nai Manzil, an Integrated Educational and Livelihood Initiative for the Minority Communities, has been cut from Rs 140 crore to Rs 120 crore.