Srinagar: In a major boost to quality education for tribal students, the Jammu and Kashmir administration Monday notified up to 125 percent enhancement in the scholarship amount for higher studies in government and recognised private institutions including universities and colleges, officials said.
The Tribal Affairs Department notified the first ever revision of scholarship amount since 2011-2012 and also increased the number of courses covered to over 350 from existing less than 50, they said.
The officials said the department, with an aim to boost support to the education of tribal students, has increased the scholarship in Group-A courses from existing Rs 30,000 per annum to Rs 72,000 per annum, including Rs 12,000 allowances.
The scholarship for Group-B courses which was stagnant at Rs 20,000 per annum since 2011-12 has now been enhanced to Rs 53,200, including Rs 8200 as allowances, they said.
In Group-C courses, the scholarship has been enhanced from Rs 18,000 to Rs 41,700, and in Group-D courses from Rs 12,000 to Rs 28,700 including allowances, the official said.
Secretary, Tribal Affairs Department, Shahid Iqbal Choudhary said the government has enhanced the scholarship amount to fund the tuition and other expenses in higher education starting Class 11 and up to post-Graduate courses.
“The revision of scholarship for Scheduled Tribe (ST) students was overdue for more than 10 years,” he said.
He said that in view of the persistent demand of students over the years and in wake of emerging fields of studies, the department has also added more than 300 new courses covering management, soft skills, robotics, data analytics, block chain, artificial intelligence, aviation, coding and so on, under the scholarship scheme.
“The scholarship will now be revised every two years based on various parameters including cost of living, fee structure, expenses on books, stationery and other allied material.
“The scholarship will be disbursed through an online portal which is notified to be live from July 20 for fresh applications and students have been advised to ensure accurate information of various components of scholarship is filled in through respective institutions before the cut-off date August 31,” Choudhary said.
The department had earlier this year awarded the highest-ever Rs 31 crore scholarship and also covered backlog cases of previous years.
The scholarship for students enrolled in seasonal centres has also been enhanced and a proposal is under consideration for raising the pre-matric scholarship as well, the officer said.
He said the department has enhanced the scholarship budget to Rs 50 crore for the financial year 2022-23.
