43.35 lakh OBC students received post-matric scholarship in 2021-22: Govt tells Lok Sabha

NEW DELHI: 43.35 lakh OBC students received post-matric scholarship in the year 2021-22, the minister of state (MoS) for social justice and empowerment, A Narayanaswamy, told Lok Sabha in a written reply. The amount of pre-matric and post-matric scholarships for the Other Backward Classes (OBC) students has been fixed whereas the scholarship amount for Scheduled Caste (SC) has been increased, he said.

The minister was replying to questions on whether the government has increased the scholarship amount given to students from backward classes, the number of scholarships provided to the students, and the total amount of funds released state-wise and district-wise for the past three years.

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According to the minister, the government has fixed the amount of pre-matric OBC scholarship from Rs 1,500 per annum for day scholars and Rs 5,500 per annum for hostellers to Rs 4,000 per annum for all students. Whereas, for post-matric scholarship for such students, it has fixed the amount ranging from Rs 1,600 to Rs 7,500 along with other compulsory fees per annum to a range of Rs 5,000 to Rs 20,000 per annum depending on the course.

Coming to the scholarship amounts for SC students, the minister told the Parliament that the pre-matric SC scholarship amount has been increased from Rs 3,000 to Rs 3,500 for day scholar and from Rs 6,250 to Rs 7,000 for hosteller from the year 2022-23. Whereas, the amount of post-matric scholarship has been increased from a range of Rs 2,300 to Rs 12,000 to a range of Rs 2,500 to Rs 13,500 from the year 2020-21.

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While providing information on the number of beneficiaries and fund released under OBC and SC scholarship schemes, the minister informed, “in SC scholarship schemes, from 2022-23, central share of scholarship is required to be released after release of state share. Thus release of central share is delayed due to slow release of state share by states, UTs.”

Scholarship for OBC students

The number of beneficiaries and funds released for pre-matric scholarships for OBCs for 31 states and Union Territories (UTs) is given below:

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The number of beneficiaries and funds released for post-matric scholarships for OBCs is given below:

Scholarship for SC students

The number of beneficiaries and central assistance released for post-matric scholarship for SCs during the last three years for 30 states and UTs is given below:

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The number of beneficiaries and central assistance released for pre-matric scholarship for SCs during the last three years for 30 states and UTs is given below: