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Govt revamps key scheme for scheduled caste students, increases central funds five-fold
The CCEA has approved changes in the centrally sponsored scheme, Post-Matric Scholarship for Scheduled Castes students, which aims to benefit more than 40 million students in the next five years
The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) headed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday decided to contribute more towards efforts to ensure scheduled caste (SC) students get ample opportunities to pursue higher education by increasing the budget of a key scholarship scheme five-fold.
The Centre also decided that the scheme would be made simpler and funds would be put directly into the students’ bank accounts.
Union minister for social justice and empowerment Thaawar Chand Gehlot said the Centre’s share vis-a-vis the states’ had also been increased. The Centre will pay 60% of the scholarship amount while the states would bear 40%, he said at a press conference.
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The CCEA has approved changes in the centrally sponsored scheme, Post-Matric Scholarship for Scheduled Castes students(PMS-SC), which aims to benefit more than 40 million scheduled caste students in the next five years so that they can successfully complete their higher education, an official statement said.
The Cabinet has approved a total investment of Rs59,048 crore, of which the Centre would contribute 60%, with the states providing the rest of the amount.
The Central assistance was around Rs1,100 crore annually during 2017-18 and 2019-20.
The Post-Matric Scholarship Scheme for Scheduled Caste students allows students to pursue any post-matric course Class 11 onwards.
The focus of the scheme would be on enrolling the poorest students, providing timely payments, comprehensive accountability, continuous monitoring and total transparency. A campaign will be launched to enrol students from the poorest households who pass Class 10 in higher education courses of their choice, the government statement added.
The scheme will be run on an online platform with robust cybersecurity measures that would assure transparency, accountability, efficiency, and timely delivery of the assistance without any delays, the statement said.
Under the scheme, states will undertake foolproof verification of the eligibility, caste status, Aadhaar and bank account details on the online portal. Gehlot said that once the states pay their share, the Centre would send its contribution directly to the beneficiary.
Earlier, some states were not able to pay their share and the effectiveness of the scheme was affected, he said, adding the new plan would ensure better support to deserving students.
Social justice secretary R Subrahmanyam said nearly two-thirds of scheduled caste students benefit from the scheme.
