Scholarships to Minority Students
By PIB Delhi
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 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 welfare schemes, including various Scholarship schemes, across the country for the socio-economic and educational empowerment of the notified minority communities.
The National Minorities Development & Finance Corporation (NMDFC), a PSU under the Ministry of Minority Affairs, provides educational loans for education abroad, at low rates of interest, exclusively to students belonging to minority communities. It has also been observed that benefits of interest subsidy that 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 at low rates of interest, it has been decided to discontinue the Padho Pardesh Scheme from 2022-23 onward.
It has been observed that the Junior Research Fellowship (JRF) Scheme of UGC and CSIR is open to students of all social categories and communities including minorities. Further, students from minority communities are also covered under the National Fellowship Schemes for Scheduled Castes and OBCs implemented by the Ministry of Social Justice & Empowerment and the National Fellowship Scheme for Scheduled Tribes implemented by the Ministry of Tribal Affairs. In view of the overlap among the aforesaid Schemes and the possibilities of misuse and duplication, it has been decided to discontinue the MANF Scheme from 2022-23 onwards. The existing MANF Fellows will continue to receive Fellowships till the end of their respective tenure, subject to compliance with the extant guidelines.
Details of the number of students who applied for scholarships in the last five years and the number of students who provided the scholarship, State-wise are available on the website of the Ministry i.e. https://www.minorityaffairs.gov.in/.
Under the Scholarship Schemes of this Ministry, funds are not allocated to the Minority Boards and entities in the States/UTs.
This information was given by the Minister of Minority Affairs, Smt. Smriti Zubin Irani, in a written reply in Rajya Sabha today.
