SHRI K C PANT TO GIVE AWAY Dr. AMBEDKAR
NATIONAL SCHOLARSHIPS TO MERITORIOUS SC/ST STUDENTS
The Deputy Chairman
of the Planning Commission Shri KC Pant will give away Dr. Ambedkar
National Scholarships for 2001-2002 to 66 meritorious students
belonging to Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes. These students
belong to Punjab, Bihar, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka and Pondicherry.
They will receive Rs. 15.60 lakh as scholarship amount at a function
here tomorrow. The Minister of Social Justice and Empowerment
Dr. Satyanarayan Jatiya will preside.
Dr. Ambedkar National
Scholarship Scheme was inaugurated by the Deputy Prime Minister
Shri L K Advani on February 17, 2003 by giving away scholarships
to 170 students from 13 states. The highest number of 33 SC students
and 9 ST students were from Uttar Pradesh followed 22 SC students
& ST students from West Bengal. The other students hailed
from Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat, Goa, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh,
Kerala, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland and Tripura. The
Social Justice and Empowerment Minister Dr. Satyanarayan Jatiya
who launched the scheme on April 14, 2002 gave away scholarships
to 47 students of Andhra Pradesh at a function in Hyderabad in
July this year. These included 35 SC and 11 ST students. The information
about SC/ST meritorious students from 16 States/UTs and three
Central Boards, viz., CBSE, CISCE and National Open School is
being collected.
The Ambedkar National
Scholarship is given to three students each belonging to Scheduled
Castes and Scheduled Tribes having scored highest marks in regular
class X level examination conducted by the Education Board / Council.
A special award has been instituted for the girl student securing
highest marks in case she is not among the three meritorious students.
The student securing highest marks in each Board receives Rs.60,000
as scholarship while the student securing second highest marks
is given Rs.50,000 and the student with third highest marks gets
Rs.40,000.
In order to benefit
more students in view the large SC & ST population, the Ambedkar
Foundation which gives away these scholarships has also instituted
250 special merit scholarships for students securing next higher
marks after 1st, 2nd and 3rd
positions. Of these 167 have been earmarked for SC students and
83 for ST students in 35 States and Union Territories. Ten thousand
rupees are given for each of these special awards. There are 26
Education Boards/ Councils in the country and the total financial
implication under the Scheme would be Rs.125.88 lakhs per annum.
