Over 80,000 Karnataka engineering, medical students await scholarship: AIDSO warns of protest

NEW DELHI: As the academic year is coming to an end, Karnataka college students are left in limbo following delay in disbursement of scholarships. The All India Democratic Students' Organisation (AIDSO) has urged the Karnataka government to prioritize allocating funds for education in the budget and ensure scholarships for students of all categories and communities.

The Backward Classes and Minority Department has failed to disburse scholarships for engineering, medical, undergraduate (UG) and postgraduate (PG) students in the state for the past three years, AIDSO Karnataka state committee claimed.

Condemning the “inaction” by the state government, the students’ organisation said: “On one hand, the cost of education, especially higher education, is rising significantly day by day, while on the other hand, the gradual reduction of scholarships is pushing a large number of students away from higher education. This situation particularly shatters the dreams of pursuing education, who come from poor families, including the children of farmers and laborers who greatly rely upon scholarships.”

Highlighting the severity of the delay, it claimed that over 80,000 students pursuing higher education in engineering and medical colleges have not received scholarships. Moreover, 7,000 MBA, MCA, and MTech students have not received scholarships even as the academic year is coming to an end.

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In this regard, the state government claimed that there is a shortage of funds to provide scholarships at the moment. Dissatisfied with the delays for years, students staged several protests at Freedom Park in Bengaluru demanding the state government to "immediately" release scholarships.

“Even after meeting the Minister of the BCM Department, Shivaraj Tangadagi, last August regarding the non-disbursement of scholarships for medical students over the past two years, no positive outcome was achieved,” it said.

Students, under the leadership of AIDSO, will again hold a protest march to the state capital, Bengaluru, on March 6 to demand their right to scholarship.

“Universities state that they have not received funds from the government. Overall, the lack of concern for the future of the student community in the state, regarding the provision of scholarship is evident here,” it added.