Manifold hike in scholarships will benefit crores of SC students: Dr Manyal

STATE TIMES NEWS

JAMMU: The recent decision of the BJP government under Prime Minister, Narendra Modi, granting approval to make more than five times hike in the Post-Matric Scholarship Scheme for students belonging to the Scheduled Castes (SCs) will benefit more than four crore students of the category in the next five years as they would be in a position to pursue higher education.
This was shared by BJP General Secretary Dr. Devinder Kumar Manyal, while addressing press conference along with BJP SC Morcha President Bharat Bhushan, Ex-MLA Prof. Gharu Ram, BJP Spokesperson Balbir Ram Rattan & newly elected DDC members- Dharminder Kumar and Vidya Motan.
Elaborating on the details of changes in the existing centrally sponsored scheme, Dr. Manyal said that the Union Cabinet has approved for investment of Rs 59,048 crore, of which the Central Government would spend Rs 35,534 crore (60%) and the balance would be spent by State/ UT governments. This scheme, approved for five years, has an increase in the existing annual spending from Rs 1100 crore to Rs 6000 crore and the total amount will be Rs 59,048 crore, which has been done for the first time by any government at the Centre so far.
Dr. Manyal said that the focus of the scheme would be on enrolling the poorest students, timely payments, accountability, continuous monitoring and total transparency.
A campaign will be launched to enroll the students from the poorest households passing the 10th standard in the higher education courses of their choice. It is estimated that 1.36 Cr such poorest students, who are currently not continuing their education beyond 10th standards would be brought into the higher education system in the next 5 years.
The State/UT will undertake fool-proof verification of the eligibility, Caste status, Aadhaar identification and bank account details on the online portal.
Transfer of financial assistance to the students under the scheme shall be on DBT mode, and preferably using the Aadhaar Enabled Payment System. Starting 2021-22, the Central share (60%) in the scheme would be released on DBT mode directly into the bank accounts of the students.
Monitoring mechanism will be further strengthened through conduct of social audits, annual third party evaluation, and half-yearly self- audited reports from each institution.