Cabinet Approves Continuation of Scholarships for Minority Students
The Union Cabinet has agreed to the proposal for continuing the pre-matric, post matric and merit-based scholarship for the candidates belonging to the minority groups in the country. The Cabinet will distribute over 70 lakh scholarships annually.
The Union Cabinet has given a green signal to the proposal for continuing the pre-matric, post matric and merit-based scholarship for candidates belonging to minority groups in India at a cost of around Rs. 5,000 crores up to the year 2020. Religious minority groups in India comprise of Muslims, Christians, Sikhs, Buddhists, Jains and Zoroastrians.
According to the scheme, the Cabinet will distribute over 70 lakh scholarships annually. The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs head by PM Narendra Modi has approved the same for providing scholarship schemes to candidates belonging to the six minority communities and the total cost of the scheme is Rs.5338.82 crore for 2019-20. National Scholarship Portal (NSP) will implement the scheme and will be disbursed by the Direct Benefit Transfer (DBT) mode.
Also Read:Best Scholarships for Class 12th Students 2018
Eligibility Criteria to Avail Merit Scholarship for Minority Group Students:
- Students who have an aggregate of more than 50% in the previous final examination and are studying in government schools or recognised private schools will be awarded the scholarship.
- The annual income of the parents/guardians should not be more than Rs.1 lakh.
Also Read: Maharashtra Govt. to Bear Cost of Rs.1,314 Crore under Student Scholarship Scheme
The main objective of the pre-matric scholarship scheme is to encourage the parents from minority groups to let their children pursue higher education and to lighten their financial burden. It will also help increase the literacy rate in the country and will also increase the employability of these students.