Tribal belt students get scholarships for school

Updated on: Thursday, March 03, 2011

The FM has only one major scheme for Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes — a scholarship for Class IX and X students to complement the post-matric scholarship.

But this will benefit 40 lakh children. An allocation of Rs 196 crore and Rs 45 crore has been made in the Budget for SCs and STs. This scheme, an attempt to revive SC and tribal sub-plans, aims to incentivise education for marginalized groups.

Pranab Mukherjee made specific allocations towards the sub-plans in ministerial budgets. The sub-plans, initiated in ’70s, called for Union ministries and states to spend on dalit and tribal welfare in proportion to their population but they proved non-starters.

P L Punia, National Commission for SCs chairman, said the scholarships would fill a big hole in the financial backing for marginalised groups. “The bid to put subplans on track by mentioning them in ministerial allocations is a strong move,” he said.

Tribal belt students get scholarships for school

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