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'Tech Issues' Led To 5 Lakh Students Not Getting Scholarship In Bihar Annually
Writer: Ratika Rana
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Bihar, 11 Aug 2021 1:12 PM GMT
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Creatives : Ratika Rana
Her primary objective is to inform, promote, educate and cultivate readers through writing.
Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar asks the State Education Department to resume the scholarships for SCs and STs within a month. SCs are 16 per cent of Bihar's population while STs from 1 per cent.
Bihar CM Nitish Kumar has directed the state education department to resume the post-matric scholarship for Scheduled Caste (SC) and Scheduled Tribe (ST) students. The state government had not received any application for the centrally-sponsored scheme for the last three years.
This scheme has proved successful in several other states and works on a 75:25 Centre-state partnership. Several students had previously alleged that they had been denied the full benefits of the scheme by the Bihar Government.
'The Fees Was Capped'
The students pursuing Class 12 to Post-graduate level of education, both technical and professional courses, have alleged that the government put a cap on the fees from ₹2,000 to ₹90,000 for them.
The Indian Express quoted the Additional Chief Secretary for Education Sanjay Kumar, "We had written to the National Informatics Centre in Delhi on the National Scholarship Portal 2.0 not working." He added that Bihar is looking forward to having its portal for the applications like many other states already do. The state is expected to develop the same and invite scholarships for 2019-2020 and 2020-2021 together.
The scheme was previously run and managed by the SC/ST Department and was later transferred to the Education Department. The Scheduled Castes community makes up 16 per cent of the state's population, while scheduled tribes are a meagre 1 per cent. Every year, nearly 5 lakh students are eligible for the scholarship.
Bihar Had Barely Spent Rs 60 Crore
Even though the officials stated 'technical issues', they did not explain the reason for the extended delay. Other states, including the neighbouring Uttar Pradesh, have done exceptionally well to benefit students from marginalised communities. The Post-Matric scholarship is a centrally sponsored scheme aimed to uplift more than 60 lakh students across the country.
Under this, the state can ask the government for any amount above its annual committed liability of ₹115 crore. Bihar has barely spent ₹60 crore in 2017-18 and 2019-20 for this scheme, and ever since the fee was capped.
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