Minority Benefits

Author(s): Babita Jain
Publisher: Shrut Samvardhan Samsthan

Page 83

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SCHEME OF PRE-MATRIC SCHOLARSHIP' FOR STUDENTS
BELONGING TO THE MINORITY COMMUNITIES
1. BACKGROUND :
The Prime Minister's New 15 Point Programme for the Welfare of Minorities was announced in June, 2006. It provides that a pre-matric scholarship scheme for meritorious students from minority communities would be implemented. OBJECTIVE: The scholarship at pre-matric level will encourage parents from minority communities to send their school going children to school, lighten their financial burden on schoo education and sustain their efforts to support their children to complete schoo education. The scheme will form the foundation for their educational attainment and provide a level playing field in the competitive employment arena. Empowermen through education, which is one of the objectives of this scheme, has the potential to lead to upliftment of the socio economic conditions of the minority communities. SCOPE : The scholarship will be awarded for studies in India in a government or private school from class I to class X, including such residential Government institutes and eligible private institutes selected and notified in a transparent manner by the State Government and Union Territory Administration concerned. ELIGIBILITY: Scholarship will be awarded to the students who have secured not less than 50% marks in the previous final examination and annual income of their parents/guardian from all sources does not exceed Rs. 1 lakh. DISTRIBUTION : Muslims, Sikhs, Christians, Buddhists, Jains and Zoroastrians (Parsis) have been notificd as minority communities under Section 2 (c) of the National Commission for Minorities Act, 1992. The distribution of scholarship among the States Union Territories will be made on the basis of population of minorities in the States/Union Territories of Census 2001.(*This would be changed when figures of 2011 Census
is available). 6. EARMARKING FOR GIRL STUDENTS :
30% of scholarship will be earmarked for girl students. In case sufficient number of cligible girl students are not available, then the balance earmarked scholarships may
be awarded to eligible boy students. 7. SELECTION :
As the number of scholarships for minorities available in a year is fixed and limited it is necessary to lay down preference for selection. Inter-se selection weightage is
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Minority