MillenniumPost
Bengal

State grants scholarship fund as Centre delays data of minority students

Kolkata: Lackadaisical attitude of the Centre in providing data of minority students who haven't received scholarships, is "unnecessarily" delaying the process of releasing the same, despite the fact that the state has allotted money from its own exchequer to extend support to the students.

The data is with the Centre as students need to apply through the National Scholarship Portal.

The state government has allotted around Rs 400 crore to extend support to 18 lakh students who are yet to get scholarship from the Centre in the 2017-18 financial year. Around 32 lakh students had applied in the financial year for the scholarship from the state and it was the highest in the country. The Centre has given scholarship to 14 lakh students, so the state government has decided to give the same to the rest.

Similarly, the state government has allotted around Rs 300 crore for scholarships of 15 lakh students, who had not received the same in the 2016-17 financial year. A total of 27 lakh students had applied for scholarship in the financial year and the Centre had given scholarship to only 12 lakh of them.

Despite the Centre's apathy in providing the data of the students, the state government has managed to prepare a list of the students who haven't received scholarship in 2016-17 and set a target of giving them the same in the next 15 days. After failing to get the data from the Centre, the Bengal government has prepared the same by seeking relevant documents from schools and getting them verified through the concerned bank.

But the problem for the 18 lakh students who are yet to get scholarship despite applying for it in the 2017-18 fiscal still persists and the state government is desperately trying to find a way out to help the students as the fund has already been allotted from the state's exchequer.

Senior officials of the Minority Affairs and Madrassah Education department have held repeated meetings with concerned officials at the Centre in this regard. Finally, Chief Secretary Malay De had to write letters to the Centre.

Last week, the Centre informed the state government that the latter can give scholarship to the students through its PFMS Portal. It led to a question as to why the scholarship will be disbursed through a portal of the Central government, when the money for the same is being given from the state's exchequer.

A senior state government official said: "The matter has been taken up for a solution with an endeavour that applicants get the scholarship without much delay. We are hopeful that the scholarship can be given as early as possible with the fund that has already been allotted. There is just the need of a bit of cooperation from the Centre's end."

It may be mentioned that in the 2018-19 fiscal, around 5.5 lakh students have already applied for scholarship and it is expected to cross the last fiscal's figure of 32 lakh by the end of September 30.

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