Lok Sabha Question No. 3542 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2023-08-10
Subject: Promotion of Scholarship Schemes
Ministry: MINORITY AFFAIRS
Asked by: Poonamben Hematbhai Maadam

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF MINORITY AFFAIRS

## LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 3542 ANSWERED ON 10.08.2023

## Promotion of Scholarship Schemes

## 3542. SHRIMATI POONAMBEN MAADAM:

Will the Minister of MINORITY AFFAIRS be pleased to state:

- (a)  whether  the  Government  has  taken  any  steps  to  promote  scholarship  schemes  for  the educational empowerment of minority communities and if so, the details thereof;
- (b) the details of the scholarship schemes implemented along with their eligibility criteria;
- (c) whether the Government has any mechanism to ensure that the scholarships are provided to genuine beneficiaries; and
- (d) if so, the details thereof?

## ANSWER

## THE MINISTER OF MINORITY AFFAIRS (SHRIMATI SMRITI ZUBIN IRANI)

(a) & (b): The Government has implemented various schemes for the welfare and upliftment of every  strata,  including  minorities,  especially  the  economically  weaker  and  lesser  privileged sections  of  the  society,  through  various  schemes  of  the  Ministry  of  Skill  Development  and Entrepreneurship, Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment, Ministry of Textiles, Ministry of Culture, Ministry of Women and Child Development and Ministry of Rural Development.

Ministry  of  Minority  Affairs  has  specifically  implemented  various  schemes,  including  PreMatric, Post Matric and Merit-cum-Means Scholarship schemes, across the country for socioeconomic and educational empowerment of the six notified minority communities.

The eligibility criteria under the 3 Scholarship Schemes are given below: i. Pre-Matric Scholarship Scheme- The scholarship is provided to minority students studying in Government/ Government notified private schools. Minimum 30% scholarships are earmarked for  girls.  To  be  eligible,  students  should  not  have  annual  parental/guardian's  income  of  more than ₹ 1.00 lakh and he/she should have secured minimum 50% marks in previous class.

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. Minimum 30%  scholarships  are  earmarked  for  girls.  To  be  eligible,  students  should  not  have  annual parental/guardian's income of more than ₹ 2.00 lakh and he/she should have secured minimum 50% marks in previous class.

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. Under the scheme, 30% Scholarships are earmarked for girl students. 85 institutes for professional and technical courses have been listed in the scheme; for  which  full  course  fee  is  reimbursed.  To  be  eligible,  students  should  not  have  annual parental/guardian's income of more than ₹ 2.50 lakh and he/she should have secured minimum 50% marks in previous class.

(c) & (d): The Scheme has inbuilt provision of ensuring the genuineness of beneficiaries by way of  carrying  out  de-duplication  and  red-flagging  exercise.  Further,  in  order  to  weed  out  the ingenuine  beneficiaries,  the  Ministry  has  taken  action  for  reverification  of  the  applicants  in  a transparent manner to weed out the irregularities.

***