The Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment has decided to reach out to students through the University Grants Commission (UGC) and AICTE on several issues pertaining to the post matric scholarship.
The move comes after the number of renewal cases did not match with the fresh registrations. The Ministry has directed UGC and AICTE to ask colleges to convene regular meetings of all potential/scholarship holders and advise them to apply for renewal immediately.
AICTE has been requested to issue appropriate advisories to all educational institutions/universities/colleges so that regular meetings are convened under nodal officers and information is shared with concerned beneficiaries so that maximum number of students apply.
The centrally sponsored post matric scholarship is the largest welfare scheme of the Ministry. Lakhs of students avail the benefits of the scheme. Official sources said the objective of the scheme is to ensure and improve the Gross Enrolment Ratio and raise the educational status of poor SC students in the country.
The scheme is implemented in DBT mode from 2021-22 onwards and the Central is directly paid into the accounts of the beneficiary students.
“For proper and timely release of the scholarship strict timelines are being followed as provided in the scheme guidelines. It has been observed by the Ministry that the number of renewal cases are not matching up to the expectations as well as fresh registrations done every year. The Ministry is taking various steps to plug out such gaps,” the Ministry’s letter to AICTE read.