Scholarships for minority students: Merit-based system to promote meritocracy, says minister
Instead of a first-come, first-serve basis, scholarships would be given to meritorious students of minority communities
The department of minorities has amended rules for scholarships to be given to minority students. Instead of a first-come, first-serve basis, scholarships would be given to meritorious students of minority communities first.
A merit-based system has been implemented with the aim of encouraging merit, which will also bring transparency in the selection of candidates, said Dharampal Singh, minister of minority welfare and Haj.
Singh said that the rules of scholarships for the students studying in pre-10 classes in recognised educational institutions of the state, were promulgated in 2016, which were amended twice.
Scholarship rules for 10-plus classes were promulgated in 2012. They were amended six times. Incorporating these amendments as per the current requirements, new rules have been promulgated by the department in which a merit-based preference system is being implemented. Arrangements have been made for payment through Aadhaar authentication and Aadhaar based/DBT system.
Besides, the AISHE/UDISE code has been made mandatory for educational institutions and the budget for various post-10 classes has been determined proportionately so that more students of minority communities can benefit, the minister said.
In order to ensure that scholarships and fee reimbursement is received only by eligible persons, it has been decided to transfer the payment through ABPS/DBT system to the Aadhaar-linked bank account of candidates.
In order to ensure transparency and determine accountability under the scheme, the nodal officer of educational institutions will verify the candidates through their digital signatures, and after verification by the district minority welfare officer, the file will be sent to the district scholarship approval committee.
