Govt of India uses 16-yr-old data to provide students minority scholarship, RTE group suspects whopping 20% gap

By Our Representative
In a shocking revelation, the Government of India relies on more 16 year old data while calculating the number of minority students who should receive scholarship. A recent Government of India circular says that pre-matric and post-matric scholarship schemes for 2017-18 for the country's minorities is to be implemented by the Government of India is "as per the Census 2001".
A cent per cent centrally-funded scheme floated by former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh as part of 15 point programme to alleviate the plight of the minorities, the Narendra Modi government has continued with it, despite the fact that during his chief ministership he refused to implement it in Gujarat.
Calling it "minority appeasement", Modi had wondered why such a scholarship scheme wasn't being implemented for other sections, till the Gujarat High Court ordered him to begin putting it in place across Gujarat for the state's minorities. The UPA government, on the other hand, basing on information provided by the Sachar Committee, had insisted that minorities, especially Muslims, suffered from backwardness, and special efforts were needed to overcome it.
Based on the "merit-cum-means" criteria, those eligible included minority students from from Muslim, Christian, Sikh, Buddhist, Parsi and Jain communities of "government or private universities/ institutes/ colleges/ schools."
Taking strong exception to the use of old data to provide scholarship to minority students, Mujahid Nafees of the Shala Mitra Sangh, a right to education (RTE) platform in Gujarat, has said that the minority population in 2001 stood at 20,03,03,872, and increased to 24,17,30,321 in 2011, as per the census data.
A nearly 20% rise, Nafees wonders whether this may have become the basis for providing scholarship to a lesser percentage of minorities. "I have asked Union minorities minister Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi to take note of utter indifference on the part of the administration while calculating those eligible for scholarship."
Providing state-wise and community-wise number of students eligible for scholarship, it provides the all-India number too -- 30 lakh are pre-matric, five lakh post-matric, and 60,000 "fresh cases". All of these, notably, are based on the 2001 Census.
The government providing old data for disbursement of scholarship has come amidst Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal recently taking up the issue of “more than 5 lakh scholarships” to SC/ST and other minority groups not being disbursed, in some cases for over a year.
In a note to Chief Secretary MM Kutty, Kejriwal said the files in this regard were “never put to my minister” during the entire period from 2015 to 2017 and “the elected government was kept in the dark”. Kejriwal mentioned an inquiry by the Dialogue and Development Commission of Delhi (DDC), ordered by him in the matter.
“(Its) report alleges that more than 5 lakh scholarships are yet to be disbursed in Delhi due to complete abdication of responsibilities, apathy, insensitivity & dereliction of duty by the seniormost officials” of the Delhi Government.
Meanwhile, official's in Delhi have said that, overall, the Government of India's pre-matric and post-matric scholarship schemes have seen a decline as compared to last year due to the new registration system for students.
This has happened because, thy say, states have com up with "low registration" under the scholarship schemes, and students are opting for state-run scholarship scheme, and according to rule a student can apply only for one scheme.

Comments

'Enough evidence' in Indian tradition to support legal basis for same-sex marriage

By Iyce Malhotra, Joseph Mathai, Sandeep Chachra* The ongoing hearing in the Supreme Court on same-sex marriage provides space for much-needed conversations on issues that have hitherto remained “invisible” or engaged with patriarchal locker room humour. We must recognize that people with diverse sexualities and complex gender identities have faced discrimination, stigma and decades of oppression. Their issues have mainly remained buried in dominant social discourse, and many view them with deep insecurities.

Buddhist shrines were 'massively destroyed' by Brahmanical rulers: Historian DN Jha

Nalanda mahavihara By Our Representative Prominent historian DN Jha, an expert in India's ancient and medieval past, in his new book , "Against the Grain: Notes on Identity, Intolerance and History", in a sharp critique of "Hindutva ideologues", who look at the ancient period of Indian history as "a golden age marked by social harmony, devoid of any religious violence", has said, "Demolition and desecration of rival religious establishments, and the appropriation of their idols, was not uncommon in India before the advent of Islam".

Swami Vivekananda's views on caste and sexuality were 'painfully' regressive

By Bhaskar Sur* Swami Vivekananda now belongs more to the modern Hindu mythology than reality. It makes a daunting job to discover the real human being who knew unemployment, humiliation of losing a teaching job for 'incompetence', longed in vain for the bliss of a happy conjugal life only to suffer the consequent frustration.

Victim of communal violence, Christians in Manipur want Church leadership to speak up

By Fr Cedric Prakash SJ* The first eleven days of May 2023 have, in many ways, been a defining period of Indian history! Plenty has happened in a rapid-fire stream of events. Ironically, each one of them are indicators of how crimes and the criminalisation of society has become the ‘new norm’; these include, the May Day rallies with a focus on the four labour codes which are patently against the rights of workers; the U S Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) released its Annual Report on 1 May stating that conditions for religious freedom in India “continued to worsen in 2022”; the continued protest by the Indian women wrestlers at Jantar Mantar for the expulsion of the chief of the Indian Wrestlers Federation on very serious allegations; the Elections in Karnataka on 10 May (with communalism and corruption as the mainstay); the release of the fake, derogative and insensitive film ‘The Kerala Story’; the release of World Free Press Index on 3 May which places India

Unlike other revolutionaries, Hindutva icon wrote 5 mercy petitions to British masters

By Shamsul Islam* The Hindutva icon VD Savarkar of the RSS-BJP rulers of India submitted not one, two,or three but five mercy petitions to the British masters! Savarkarites argue: “There are no evidences to prove that Savarkar collaborated with the British for his release from jail. In fact, his appeal for release was a ruse. He was well aware of the political developments outside and wanted to be part of it. So he kept requesting for his release. But the British authorities did not trust him a bit” (YD Phadke, ‘A complex Hero’, "The Indian Expres"s, August 31, 2004)

Polygamy in India "down" in 45 yrs: Muslims' from 5.7 to 2.55%, Hindus' 5.8 to 1.77%, "common" in SCs, STs

By Rajiv Shah Amidst All India Muslim Personal Law Board (AIMPLB) justifying polygamy, saying it “meets social and moral needs and the provision for it stems from concern and sympathy for women”, facts suggest the the practice is down from 5.7 per cent of Muslim families in 1961 to 2.55 per cent in 2006.

India joining US sponsored trade pillar to hurt Indian farmers, 'promote' GM seeds, food

Counterview Desk As many as 32 civil society organisations (CSOs), in a letter to Union Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal on the Indo-Pacific Economic Framework (IPEF) and India joining the trade pillar, have said that its provisions will allow the US to ensure a more favourable regulatory regime “for enhancing its exports of genetically modified (GM) seeds and GM food”, underlining, it will “significantly hurt the livelihoods of Indian farmers.”

Modi govt 'wholly untrustworthy' on Covid data, censored criticism on pandemic: Lancet

By Rajiv Shah* One of the world’s most prestigious health journals, brought out from England, has sharply criticised the Narendra Modi government for being “wholly untrustworthy on Covid-19 health data”, stating, the “official government figures place deaths at more than 530 000, while WHO excess death estimates for 2020 and 2021 are near 4·7 million.”

Savarkar 'opposed' Bhagat Singh's, Netaji's dream of India, supported British war efforts

By Shamsul Islam* In a shocking development, the student wing of the RSS put the busts of martyrs Bhagat Singh and Subhash Chandra Bose with Savarkar's on one pedestal at the University of Delhi late in the night on August 20, 2019. Bhagat Singh sacrificed his life for a socialist-democratic-secular republic and Netaji raised Azad Hind Fauj (INA) consisting of people of all religions and regions for armed liberation of India.

Undermining law, breastfeeding? Businesses 'using' celebrities to promote baby food

By Rajiv Shah* A report prepared by the top child welfare NGO, Breastfeeding Promotion Network of India (BPNI), has identified as many as 15 offenders allegedly violating the Indian baby food law, the Infant Milk Substitutes Feeding Bottles, and Infant Foods (Regulation of Production, Supply and Distribution) Act 1992, and Amendment Act 2003 (IMS Act), stating, compliance with the law “seems to be dwindling by the day.”

Search This Blog