Disburse SC, ST, OBC scholarships at earliest to reduce students' problems: Minister

New Delhi: Social Welfare Minister Rajendra Pal Gautam urged the Centre to disburse Scheduled Caste (SC), Scheduled Tribe (ST), Other Backward Caste (OBC) student scholarships at the earliest to rid students’ problems.

The minister chaired a meeting regarding the disbursement of various student scholarships within the department. The meeting was attended by the director of SC, ST welfare department, and high ranking officials of the education department and finance department.

Also read | Union Budget 2022: Several scholarship, fellowships schemes for marginalised students face cuts

“It had come to the Social Welfare Minister's notice that there were certain pendencies regarding disbursement of student scholarships under SC/ST/OBC department which was causing inconvenience to students. The Minister took a serious stand against the pendencies and directed officials to immediately expedite the process,” the official statement said.

Rajendra Pal Gautam said, "there has been a delay in disbursement of student scholarships under the ST/SC/OBC department. I have ordered the officers to resolve all the issues as soon as possible so that students start receiving their scholarship at the earliest. The application process for the scholarships should start at the beginning of the academic year itself.”

He further suggested that the application process for the scholarships should start at the beginning of the academic year itself.

Also Read | Union Budget 2022 will be of great help in implementing National Education Policy: PM Modi

On February 11, the Delhi government has directed all schools to clear verification of all pending applications of SCs, STs and OBCs since 2017-18. The Directorate of Education (DoE) has also directed that the DDE (Zone) may call a meeting of defaulter private schools immediately to clear the backlog.