Central Edu Funds For St Students In 2021-22 Unused, Raj Refutes Data | Jaipur News
The Centre had released Rs 62.34 crore for pre-matric scholarships and Rs 137.44 crore for post-matric scholarships in 2021-22, Union minister of state for tribal affairs Renuka Singh Saruta informed in the Lok Sabha on July 25 while replying to an unstarred question by MPs Pratap Chandra Sarangi and PP Chaudhary.
Refuting these figures, senior officials of tribal area development (TAD) and social justice and empowerment departments, who did not want to be named, said, “If funds are released (by the Centre) at the fag of a financial year, by the time the money is utilised, a new financial year begins. Therefore, it will reflect zero utilisation for the previous fiscal.”
According to the reply, under pre-matric scholarship scheme for ST students, Rs 53.46 crore released by the Centre in 2019-20 for Rajasthan was fully utilised. In 2020-21, Rs 31.26 crore was released and it was utilised.
In her reply, the minister said under post-matric scholarship scheme, Rs 259.50 crore released by the Centre in 2019-20 for Rajasthan was used. In 2020-21, Rs 255.57 crore was released and it was utilised.
Moreover, Rs 1.71 crore was released to NGOs/voluntary organisations in Rajasthan in 2019-20, Rs 1.89 crore in 2020-21 and Rs 1.01 crore in 2021-22, data said.
Pre-matric scholarships is applicable to students who are studying in classes 9 and 10. Parental income from all sources should not be more than Rs 2.50 lakh per annum. Scholarship of Rs 225 per month for day scholars and Rs 525 per month for hostellers is given for a period of 10 months in a year. Scholarship is disbursed through the state government/UT administration. Funding ratio is 75:25 between the Centre and states.
The objective of post-matric scholarship is to provide financial assistance to the ST students studying at post-matriculation or post-secondary levels to enable them to complete their education.
