Over 5,500 tribal students awarded higher-education fellowships in last 3 years: Ministry of Tribal Affairs

The Ministry of Tribal Affairs implemented the 'National Fellowship and Scholarship for Higher Education of ST students' on its own from the year 2017-18. Under the scheme, 750 fellowships and scholarships are awarded to meritorious tribal students each year.

In the last three years, the Centre has successfully awarded fellowships to over 5,500 Scheduled Tribe students.  Previously, the University Grants Commission was responsible for the scheme’s implementation. However, the Ministry of Tribal Affairs is responsible for its implementation.

In the years 2015-16, the government had spent Rs 31.38 crore; fellowships were awarded to 1,408 tribal students. It spent Rs 73.12 crore in 2016-17 and awarded fellowships to 2,197 beneficiaries. In 2017-18, as many as 2,078 Scheduled Tribe students were given fellowships and Rs 70.22 crore was spent on the scheme. A total of 5,683 tribal students benefited from the scheme in the last three years, according to the data.

There was no state or university-wise allocation/ceiling on the number of slots under the scheme. “Earlier, the ministry was implementing the scheme through (the) UGC. However, it has been decided that the ministry itself will implement the scheme from 2017-18 onwards. For this purpose, a dedicated portal has been designed by the ministry for online applications to ensure that (the) fellowship amount is released to students in time directly into their account,” Minister of State for Tribal Affairs Jasvantsinh Bhabor said.

Advertisement

Image used for representative purpose only.