Demanding a rollback of the decision to scrap ST scholarships for management quota students, members of the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) staged a protest outside Birsa Munda Bhavan in Gandhinagar on Thursday.
The student organization has also submitted a petition with the demand to Tribal Development Minister Kuber Dindor.
The state tribal development department had issued a notification on October 28 that students admitted under the management quota would be ineligible for post-matric-scholarships for ST (Scheduled Tribe) candidates.
“The notification should be cancelled. Also, students existing under management quota should be authorized for scholarship till they complete their education and admission to students in vacant seats should be treated as state quota,” ABVP demanded in its representation.
The tribal development department of the state government had issued a notification for post-matric scholarship following the revised guidelines from the central government in this regard. Earlier, scholarship was provided to students of both free and paid seats.
“The guidelines were revised after many discrepancies were found among the beneficiaries of the scheme. The government has not canceled the scholarship, it is only giving it to genuine students. Many cases, majority in Mehsana, Patan and Banaskantha districts, came to light where entire colleges were filled with tribal students. This financial assistance It is a question of preventing genuine tribal students from getting it. It (scholarships) will be awarded only to merit based students and not to ghost or lost students where colleges have these in the name of such students. Funds are being looted,” a senior government official told The Indian Express.
As per the Union Government’s revised guidelines for Post-Matric Scheme, the scholarship for management quota students has been abolished for the academic year 2024-25.
It has been made clear that those who are converted to management quota after the government quota seats become vacant will not be eligible for the scholarship.
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