Lok Sabha Question No. 2034 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2023-12-14
Subject: Income Criteria for Scholarship Schemes
Ministry: MINORITY AFFAIRS
Asked by: Imtiaz Jaleel Syed

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF MINORITY AFFAIRS

## LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 2034

ANSWERED ON 14.12.2023

## Income Criteria for Scholarship Schemes

## 2034. SHRI SYED IMTIAZ JALEEL:

Will the Minister of MINORITY AFFAIRS be pleased to state:

(a)  whether the Government proposes to revise the income criteria for the parents to avail the scholarship  schemes  for  minority  communities  so  that  the  benefits  are  accessible  to  more students and if so, the details thereof;

(b)  whether  the  Government proposes an interest subsidy on educational loans for the student pursuing higher education in the country and if so, the details thereof;

(c) the details of the funds distributed to the beneficiaries under 'Padho Pardesh' scheme, Statewise; and

(d)  the  details  of  the  placement  of  the  students  of  the  minority  communities  who  completed technical education assisted by educational loan?

## ANSWER

## THE MINISTER OF MINORITY AFFAIRS

## (SHRIMATI SMRITI ZUBIN IRANI)

(a) to (d): 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  different  Ministries.  Ministry  of  Minority Affairs  has  specifically  implemented  various  schemes,  including  Pre-Matric,  Post  Matric  and Merit-cum-Means Scholarship schemes, across the country for socio-economic and educational empowerment of the six notified minority communities. All aspects including revision of income criteria for the parents are looked into by the Government.

The National Minorities Development & Finance Corporation (NMDFC), a PSU under Ministry of  Minority  Affairs,  provides  educational  loan  for  education  abroad,  at  low  rate  of  interest, exclusively  to  students  belonging  to  minority  communities.  It  has  also  been  observed  that benefits of interest subsidy that got accrued to the beneficiaries under the Padho Pardesh scheme were limited and also that there is an overlap with other similar schemes being implemented by other  Ministries  viz.  Ministry  of  Social  Justice  and  Empowerment  and  Ministry  Of  Tribal Affairs,  which  are  applicable  to  eligible  minority  community  students  as  well.  In  view  of the aforesaid overlap, limited benefits and ease of availing education loans on low rate of interest, it has been decided to discontinue Padho Pardesh Scheme from 2022-23 onward. The number of minority students benefited under education loan subsidy for overseas studies during the last five years, are at Annexure.

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ANNEXURE  REFERRED  TO  IN  REPLY  TO  PART  (a)  to  (d)  OF  LOK  SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 2034 FOR 14.12.2023 REGARDING 'INCOME CRITERIA FOR SCHOLARSHIP SCHEMES'

State/UT-wise number of beneficiaries under Padho Pardesh Scheme

| S.No.   | State/ UT        |   2017-18 |   2018-19 |   2019-20 |   2020-21 |   2021-22 |
|---------|------------------|-----------|-----------|-----------|-----------|-----------|
| 1       | Andhra Pradesh   |        74 |        75 |        72 |        91 |        81 |
| 2       | Assam            |         7 |         7 |         5 |         6 |         1 |
| 3       | Bihar            |         2 |         8 |        12 |        11 |         8 |
| 4       | Chandigarh       |         4 |         5 |         4 |         3 |         2 |
| 5       | Chhattisgarh     |        11 |        11 |         6 |         3 |         1 |
| 6       | Daman &Diu       |         0 |         1 |         2 |         0 |         0 |
| 7       | Delhi            |         7 |        12 |        20 |        19 |        13 |
| 8       | Goa              |         8 |        14 |        15 |        13 |         4 |
| 9       | Gujarat          |        91 |       120 |       129 |       103 |        82 |
| 10      | Haryana          |        13 |        17 |        15 |        14 |        12 |
| 11      | Himachal Pradesh |         2 |         2 |         3 |         1 |         0 |
| 12      | Jammu &Kashmir   |        28 |        72 |        80 |       132 |       202 |
| 13      | Jharkhand        |         0 |         3 |         8 |         8 |         6 |
| 14      | Karnataka        |       129 |       211 |       289 |       275 |       229 |
| 15      | Kerala           |       715 |      1138 |      1734 |      2236 |      3359 |
| 16      | Madhya Pradesh   |        74 |       101 |       106 |        82 |        51 |
| 17      | Maharashtra      |       250 |       297 |       322 |       300 |       265 |
| 18      | Meghalaya        |         1 |         2 |         1 |         0 |         0 |
| 19      | Mizoram          |         0 |         2 |         1 |         0 |         0 |
| 20      | Odisha           |         2 |         5 |         7 |         4 |         5 |
| 21      | Puducherry       |         1 |         5 |        11 |        12 |         9 |
| 22      | Punjab           |        58 |        81 |        82 |        59 |        74 |
| 23      | Rajasthan        |        25 |        37 |        32 |        27 |        24 |
| 24      | Tamil Nadu       |       108 |       147 |       155 |       133 |       108 |
| 25      | Telangana        |        57 |        79 |        72 |        63 |        53 |
| 26      | Uttar Pradesh    |        33 |        31 |        36 |        30 |        15 |
| 27      | Uttrakhand       |         5 |         5 |         4 |        12 |         7 |
| 28      | West Bengal      |         6 |         7 |        15 |        19 |        11 |
|         | Total            |      1711 |      2495 |      3238 |      3656 |      4622 |

Source of Data: Canara Bank