Centre takes up direct benefit transfer through Aadhaar linkage on a pilot basis in AP

Updated on: Wednesday, April 17, 2013

Thousands of minority students in the city without an Aadhaar card may have to forgo their Centre-sponsored scholarship as the amount disbursal is coming to an end in a month's time and less than 20% of students have enrolled so far.

The Centre has taken up direct benefit transfer through Aadhaar linkage on a pilot basis in Hyderabad, Chittoor, Anantapur, East Godavari and Rangareddy districts.

The Centre approved applications of 12,426 post-matriculation students from these districts in 2012-13. Hyderabad alone has 9,900 students who applied for the scholarship, but it was learnt that only 2,680 of the total eligible students have enrolled for Aadhaar cards.

Shortage of enrolment centres in the Old City, where most of the minority students live, is being blamed for the poor enrolment.

There are less than 25 centres in the Old City of which over half a dozen were not functional until recently, due to technical glitches and lack of manpower and computers. The civil supplies department is facilitating enrolment in coordination with district administration.

Minority welfare department (MWD) officials say that disbursal of scholarship is underway and they are keen to wind up last year's disbursals by May 15, to ensure that next year's application process starts on time.

Poor enrolment issue was also taken up during a recent meeting which Union minister for minority affairs K Rahman Khan had with state representatives. The minister reportedly expressed concern over enrolment and urged representatives to speed up the process for students.

While officials in MWD say that the district administration is organising enrolment camps in colleges, representatives of minority colleges in the city said they have not heard of any such camps.

Zafar Javeed, general secretary of Federation of AP minority institutions and honorary secretary of Sultan-ul-uloom society which runs the Muffakham Jah College of Engineering And Technology, said, "We have not heard of any camps being conducted in our institution. Neither has it come to notice if any such camps have been set up in other institutions in the city."

College representatives also say that there is a lack of awareness among students.

About 30,000 students in the state applied for the Centre-sponsored scholarship post-matric and merit-cum-means scholarship last year. The official estimate is that not more than 40% of these students have got Aadhaar cards.

Centre takes up direct benefit transfer through Aadhaar linkage on a pilot basis in AP

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