Bhubaneswar: Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik Sunday said that no change will take place in the post-matric scholarship amount of SCST students.
“The students will get the same amount of post-matric scholarship as per the prevailing scheme,” added Patnaik.
A notification in this regard was released by the CMO office Sunday.
Patnaik also directed to suspend the resolution issued by the SCST Development Department and send the relevant file to the Chief Minister’s office for thorough inspection.
Notably, Saturday, Youth Congress slammed the state government for reducing the pos-matric scholarship amount being provided to SC and ST students.
Addressing reporters here Saturday, Youth Congress state president Smruti Ranjan Lenka said, “Both state government and the Centre are playing with the future of the SC and ST students by cutting down the post-Matric scholarship. On the by-poll day (November 3), the State SCST Development Department issued a notification reducing the post-Matric scholarship amount.”
Showing a copy of the government notification, Lenka claimed that the state government has slashed the scholarships being provided to B-Tech students from Rs 60,000 to Rs 25,000 while the scholarship for M-Tech students has been cut down from Rs 66,000 to Rs 25,000, Bachelor of Management Studies (BMS) from Rs 45,000 to Rs 25,000, MCA from Rs 40,000 to Rs 25,000, Bachelor of Homeopathic Medicine and Surgery (BHMS) from Rs 40,000 to Rs 7,200 and B-Pharma from Rs 45,000 to Rs 25,000.
Now, if a poor SC or ST student takes admission in a technical institution in B-Tech, as per the earlier course fee of Rs 60,000, he/she will not be able to complete the study due to this cut in the size of the scholarship, he said.
The post-Matric scholarship scheme is a central sponsored scheme and started by then UPA government with 100 per cent funding. However, after the Modi government took charge, it reduced the fund flow which is highly unfortunate, the Congress leader said.
He also sought a clarification as to why the state government hurriedly came up with a notification to this effect soon after the conclusion of the by-poll to Balasore and Tirtol constituencies November 3.
Alleging that the BJD had supported each and every Bill of the Union government in recent past, Lenka said, “In this case also, the BJD government has remained silent. If the government does not restore the earlier scholarship amount, we will hit the street.”
PNN