The state of scholarships for minorities

Source: The post is based on the article “The state of scholarships for minorities” published in “The Hindu” on 28th August 2023.

Syllabus: GS2- Welfare schemes for vulnerable sections of the population by the Centre and States and the performance of these schemes.

News: The author talks about cutting budgets and stopping educational schemes for religious minorities in India. They stress how these schemes help minorities, particularly Muslims, with education. The author also gives ideas to make these schemes better and reach more people.

Why are there scholarships for religious minorities?

Large Population: India is home to over 30 crore people from religious minority communities, making up 20% of the total population.

Developmental Challenges: The Sachar Committee found that the Muslim minority faced neglect in many dimensions of development. This committee, established by the UPA government, highlighted that Muslims generally ranked above SC/ST but below Hindu OBCs and other groups in various developmental indicators.

Economic and Educational Lags: Muslims often have low participation in salaried jobs and are mainly engaged in the informal sector with limited benefits.

Focused Approach: The Ministry of Minority Affairs was formed in 2006 to address issues affecting minorities, with an emphasis on educational and economic empowerment.

Dips in Education: Muslim representation in higher education enrollment decreases as education levels rise.

What are the issues with educational welfare schemes for religious minorities?

Discontinuation of Schemes: Key educational schemes like the Pre-Matric Scholarship for classes 1 to 8 and the Padho Pardesh scheme have been discontinued.

Budget Reductions: The Merit-cum-Means based Scholarship Scheme’s funding was cut from ₹365 crore to ₹44 crore in 2023-24. The Maulana Azad National Fellowship was cancelled in 2022 after having benefited over 6,700 candidates between 2014-15 and 2021-22.

Narrowed Scope: The Pre-Matric Scholarship Scheme now only covers class 9 and 10, leaving out the earlier beneficiaries from class 1 to 8.

Drop in Beneficiaries: In three years, the beneficiaries of six central educational schemes dropped by around 7%. Specifically, MANF beneficiaries fell from 2,580 in 2019-20 to 2,061 in 2021-22.

Underutilisation of Funds: More than ₹2,500 crore were allocated for certain schemes in 2022-23, but the actual expenditure was far less. For example, only ₹43.95 crore was spent out of the allocated ₹556 crore for the pre-matric scholarship.

Late Distribution: A 2022 report by the Centre for Budget and Governance Accountability highlighted that scholarships were often distributed towards the end of the academic year.

Enrolment Issues: Muslim representation in total enrolment drops at higher levels of education. The All India Survey on Higher Education (2020-2021) revealed a decrease in Muslim student enrolment from 5.5% in 2019-20 to 4.6% in 2020-21.

CBGA Report: A 2022 report by the Centre for Budget and Governance Accountability (CBGA) highlighted a “declining trend” in the overall budget expenditure towards minorities. The report also pointed out that scholarship funds were often utilized towards the end of the academic year, causing delays for beneficiaries.

What should be done?

Niti Aayog’s Recommendations:

The Niti Aayog suggests enhancing the pre-matric, post-matric, and merit-cum-means scholarships, as well as the MANF.

It also emphasizes a 15% annual increase in scholarships from 2019-20 and a 10% yearly increase in scholarships for girls from minority communities.

Timely Distribution: Ensure scholarships are disbursed at the start of the academic year, not towards the end, benefiting students when they need it most.

Restore Budgets: Reallocate and utilize the full budget for educational schemes to ensure no drop in beneficiaries.

Promote Higher Education: Address the dip in Muslim enrollment in higher education by introducing targeted initiatives.