Lok Sabha Question No. 2140 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2019-07-04
Subject: Scholarships to Minorities
Ministry: MINORITY AFFAIRS
Asked by: Kani K. Navas

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF MINORITY AFFAIRS

## LOK SABHA UNSTARRRED QUESTION NO.2140 TO BE ANSWERED ON 04.07.2019

## SCHOLARSHIPS TO MINORITIES

## 2140.   K. NAVASKANI:

Will the Minister of MINORITY AFFAIRS be pleased to state:

- (a) whether any scholarships are being provided to minorities;
- (b) if so, the details thereof;
- (c) whether it  is  proposed  to  increase  the  amount  of  scholarships  considering the inflation; and
- (d) if so, the details thereof and if not, the reasons therefor?

## ANSWER MINISTER OF MINORITY AFFAIRS (SHRI MUKHTAR ABBAS NAQVI)

(a)&  (b):  Yes,  Sir.  The  Ministry  of  Minority  Affairs  (MoMA)  is  implementing  the following scholarship schemes for educational empowerment of six centrally notified Minority  communities  viz.  Jain,  Buddhist,  Sikh,  Zoroastrian  (Parsi),  Muslim  and Christian:

- (i) Pre-Matric  Scholarship  Scheme-  The  scholarship  is  provided  to  minority students  studying  in  class  I  to  X  in  Government/  recognized  Private schools.
- (ii) Post-Matric Scholarship Scheme- The scholarship is provided to minority students  studying  in  Class  XI  to  Ph.D  level  in  Government/  recognized Private schools/Colleges/Institutes.
- (iii) Merit-cum-Mean based Scholarship Scheme - The scholarship is awarded for  pursuing  professional  and  technical  courses  at  under-graduate  and post-graduate levels, in institutions recognized by the appropriate authority.

In  all  the  above  schemes,  30%  Scholarships  are  earmarked  for  girl students.

The detailed scheme guidelines of these schemes are available on the  website of Ministry i.e.www.minorityaffairs.gov.in.

The government during the last five years has provided 3.18 crores scholarships to  students  from  amongst  the  six  centrally  notified  Minorities  namely,  Jain, Buddhist, Sikh, Parsi, Muslim and Christian. Out of these, girls constitute more than  50%  of  the  beneficiaries.  During  the  next  five  years,  the  Ministry  of Minority  Affairs  (MoMA)  proposes  to  provide  Pre-Matric,  Post-Matric  and Merit-cum-Means  scholarships  to  five  crore  economically  Weaker-section students from the six centrally notified Minority communities. This will include more than 50% of girl students. The three scholarship schemes are now being implemented  through  the  National  Scholarship  Portal  and  since  2015,  the scholarships  schemes  are  being  implemented  under  direct  benefit  transfer (DBT)  mode  to  improve  the  efficiency  and  bring  transparency  by  removing duplicity and stopping pilferages.

|           | Total Population of Minorities   | Pre Matric   | Post Matric   | Merit cum Means   | Total Beneficiaries   | Proportionate beneficiaries out of Minorities population   |
|-----------|----------------------------------|--------------|---------------|-------------------|-----------------------|------------------------------------------------------------|
|           |                                  | Ben(No.)     | Ben(No.)      | Ben(No.)          |                       |                                                            |
| Muslim    | 172245158                        | 20974526     | 2645897       | 451864            | 24072287              | 13.98                                                      |
| Christian | 27819588                         | 3193073      | 396388        | 95175             | 3684636               | 13.24                                                      |
| Sikh      | 20833116                         | 2130441      | 344440        | 42286             | 2517167               | 12.08                                                      |
| Buddhist  | 8442972                          | 759126       | 20464         | 2549              | 782139                | 9.26                                                       |
| Jain      | 4451753                          | 282410       | 76243         | 20791             | 379444                | 8.52                                                       |
| Parsi     | 57264                            | 3283         | 457           | 53                | 3793                  | 6.62                                                       |
| TOTAL     | 233849851                        | 27342859     | 3483889       | 612718            | 31439466              |                                                            |

*Apart from above, Begum Hazrat Mahal Scholarship for Meritorious Girls by MAEF: 4,41,002 in 5 years.

(c)&  (d):The  government  considers  changes  in  schemes  from  time  to  time.  The Schemes are proposed to be rationalised  while  extending  them  to  the  next  cycle, concurrent to the 15 th Finance Commission.

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