Over 58L Muslim students awarded scholarship in 2014-15: Govt

New Delhi: Over 58 lakh Muslim students were awarded scholarship under a central government scheme in 2014-15, Lok Sabha was informed on Wednesday.

Little more than 58.69 lakh students were awarded benefits under the Union Government's pre-matric scholarship scheme for Muslim school-goers during 2014-15.

Replying to queries about number of Muslim students receiving government benefits under 11th and 12th Plans, Union Minister of State for Minority Affairs Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi said a total of 58,69,697 students (from Class I to Class X) were given scholarship, aimed at educational empowerment of the children from across 36 states and Union Territories.

"For the educational empowerment of the students belonging to the notified minority communities, the Ministry implements pre-matric scholarship scheme for Class I to Class X," Naqvi said in Lok Sabha.

The minister also shared information about number of students benefiting from the scheme since 2008-09 until 2013-14 under 11th and 12th Plans.

He said to ensure effective implementation of the scheme, activity timelines are drawn up and communicated to all states/Union Territories and stakeholders as well as posted on the website of the Ministry.

"From the year 2015-16, students belonging to minority communities are required to apply for scholarship online (mandatory for IX & X) on a dedicated scholarship portal i.E. National Scholarship Portal (NSP) under URL: www.Scholarships.Gov.In and scholarships are required to be distributed through the Direct Benefit Transfer (DBT) mode to the students' bank accounts," Naqvi added.

The minister said the government runs specific multimedia campaign to sensitise public about each scholarship programme namely pre-matric, post-matric and merit-cum means-based scholarship on All India Radio (AIR), Doordarshan, private FM and TV channels and digital cinema across the country.