Lok Sabha Question No. 1367 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2020-02-10
Subject: Scholarships to Students of J&K
Ministry: HUMAN RESOURCE DEVELOPMENT
Asked by: Jugal Kishore Sharma

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF HUMAN RESOURCE DEVELOPMENT DEPARTMENT OF HIGHER EDUCATION

## LOK  SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 1367 TO BE ANSWERED ON 10.02.2020

## Scholarships to Students of J&K

## †1367. SHRI JUGAL KISHORE SHARMA:

## Will the Minister of HUMAN RESOURCE DEVELOPMENT be pleased to state:

(a)  the details of the ongoing schemes for giving scholarships to students in Jammu & Kashmir;

(b)  the details of the special scholarship schemes launched by the Prime Minister during the last three years and the details of the funds allocated and distributed during the last three years;

(c)   the number of students benefited from this scheme till date; and

(d) the steps taken by the Government for monitoring this scheme and to incorporate improvements in it?

## ANSWER

## MINISTER OF HUMAN RESOURCE DEVELOPMENT (Shri Ramesh Pokhriyal 'Nishank')

(a) to (c) The Ministry of Human Resource Development is implementing the following Schemes for providing scholarship to the students of Jammu & Kashmir.

(i) National Means-Cum Merit Scholarship Scheme: Under the scheme, scholarship is awarded to the eligible meritorious students, having parental income up to Rs.1.5 lakh per annum, with the objective to arrest their  drop out  in  class  VIII  and  encourage  them  to  continue  education  at  secondary  and  higher secondary stage up to class XII. The rate of scholarship is Rs.12,000/- per annum. Allocated quota for Jammu & Kashmir is  1019 scholarship.

(ii) Central Sector Scheme of Scholarships for college and university students. The objective of the scheme  is  to  provide  financial  assistance  for  meeting  day  to  day  expenses  while  pursuing  higher education,  to  meritorious  students  having  family  income  of  upto  Rs.  8  lakhs  per  annum.  The  rate  of scholarship is Rs. 10,000/- per annum for the first three years and Rs. 20,000/- per annum for the fourth and fifth year. Allocated quota for Jammu & Kashmir is  768 scholarship.

The scheme is boarded on the National Scholarship portal (NSP) www.scholarships.gov.in.

(iii)  Special  Scholarship  Scheme  for  Jammu  &  Kashmir:The  Special  Scholarship  Scheme  for Jammu & Kashmir  is being implemented since 2011. The scheme aims to encourage the youth from Jammu & Kashmir to pursue higher education in educational institutions outside the State.

The scheme envisages to provide 5000 fresh scholarships every year (2070 for General Degree Courses,  2830  for  Professional  Courses  and  100  for  Medical  Courses).  There  is  provision  of  interchangeability of slots, subject to shortfall in the number of General degree courses and in the process, allocating a higher number of students for certain professional courses. Students of J&K domicile with parental income upto Rs. 8 lakh  per annum are eligible.

Scholarship is provided towards tuition fee and maintenance allowance.  The rate of scholarship towards tuition fee for General Degree courses is Rs. 30,000 per annum, for Professional courses Rs. 1.25 Lakhs per annum and for Medical studies Rs. 3.0 Lakhs per annum.  Fixed maintenance allowance of Rs. 1.0 Lakh per annum is provided to all students under the scheme.

The  Scheme  is  implemented  by  All  India  Council  for  Technical  Education  (AICTE)  through their dedicated Web portal http://www.aicte-jk-scholarship-gov.in/.

Details of grants allocated and distributed to the students under Special Scholarship Scheme for Jammu and Kashmir during the last three years are as under:-

| Year    |   Funds allocated (Rs. In crore) |   Disbursed (Rs. In Crore) |
|---------|----------------------------------|----------------------------|
| 2016-17 |                              146 |                     132.07 |
| 2017-18 |                              155 |                     142.36 |
| 2018-19 |                              191 |                     179.03 |

22231 students from Jammu and Kashmir have been benefited from this scheme till date.

(d) The Government has taken several steps/initiatives to ensure that the benefit of the scheme  is availed  by  all  the  deserving  students.  As  a  result  of  various  initiatives  including  inviting  of  online application,  online  counseling  &  online  allotment  of  seats,  creation  of  supernumerary  quota  seats  in Engineering,  Architecture, Nursing, Pharmacy and Agriculture colleges,  more number of students are taking admission in professional courses.

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