Kerala Govt. to Sanction Funds for Higher Education Scholarship
Kerala State Education Minister - C. Raveendranath has confirmed that the government is planning to sanction funds for disbursal of higher education scholarships.
C. Raveendranath, State Education Minister has confirmed that the government of Kerala is planning to sanction funds for disbursal of higher education scholarship to postgraduate and undergraduate students as additional demand for grant.
A sum of Rs. 2,374 lakhs is required for disbursing scholarships which are pending for the academic years 2014-15, 2015-16 & 2016-17 will be given to Kerala State Higher Education Council as additional demand for grant.
Anwar Sadath, a member of Congress while speaking in Assembly indicated that the delay in disbursal of scholarships had affected the students especially those who belong to financially backward classes.
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Replying to Sadath, Raveendranath mentioned that the Council finds the amount of scholarship from grant-in-aid which is sanctioned by the government annually. However, the government failed to sanction grant-in-aid to the Council for the year 2015-16. Hence, the disbursal of scholarship has been delayed.
In the recent past, University Grants Commission (UGC) mentioned that Aadhar number is not mandatory to get scholarships. Earlier, UGC had issued orders mandating Aadhar number to avail scholarships. UGC thought that if Aadhar is linked to scholarships, it will avoid duplication and real beneficiaries would get the benefits of government scholarships. However, the plan of UGC did not materialize as most of the students raised objections as they do not have Aadhar cards.
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Later, UGC issued another order which stated that Aadhar is not mandatory to avail scholarships and no student is denied to apply for scholarships due to non-availability of Aadhar card or number.