Scholarships to SC students to be paid through DBT

Himachal Pradesh Polity and Governance

12-Feb-21

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The payment of post-matric scholarships to Scheduled Caste students will be made through direct benefits transfer (DBT) through Aadhar-enabled payment means after fool-proof verification of eligibility criteria and preparation of database by states/UTs.
The guidelines, issued by the Union Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment in the wake of multi-crore scholarship scams unfolding in some states, are aimed at bringing transparency in the disbursement of scholarships.
The students pursuing post-matric courses, including diplomas, professional courses and postgraduate courses, in nine categories of institutions, including institutes of national importance, state-run schools, colleges and universities, private universities, colleges and institutions, approved by various regulatory bodies are eligible for scholarship.
As per new guidelines, the existing committed liability system in funding pattern will be replaced by 60:40 sharing between the Union government and states and 90:10 sharing in case of special category states and the demand will be assessed on the basis of average demand for the past three years with 5 per cent annual increase. The scheme will remain operative for five years from 2020-21 to 2025-26.
The scheme will be run on online platform with robust security measures and will ensure transparency, accountability, efficiency and timely delivery and the poorest SC households will get priority.
Only the institutions of higher education, which maintained the laid down academic standards, will be covered under the scheme with the rider that all these institutions will have NAAC/NBA accreditation before 2024.
States will prepare an annual action plan in February every year for the following academic year and scholarship will be disbursed twice a year before January 26 and August 15.
The amount of scholarship has been fixed at Rs 13,500 for hostelers and Rs 7,000 for day scholars pursuing degree or professional or post-graduate level degree, Rs 9,500 for hostelers and Rs 6,600 for day scholars for professional courses leading to degree or diploma.
A minimum of 75 per cent attendance will be compulsory except under unavoidable circumstances or sickness and annual inspection will be mandatory for all private institutions.