BHUBANESWAR: Chief minister Naveen Patnaik on Sunday withdrew an earlier notice informing changes in the post-matric scholarship for scheduled tribe (ST) and scheduled caste (SC) students, and said the students would get the scholarships they have been getting so far.
In revised guidelines issued on November 4, the department had announced a cut in the post-matric scholarships for ST and SC students. As per the revised notification, the department had reduced scholarship for BTech students from Rs 60,000 to Rs 25,000 per annum. Similarly the amount for MTech students was reduced from Rs 66,000 to Rs 25,000 and for MBA students, from Rs 65,000 to Rs 25,000.
The scholarship for MCA students was reduced from Rs 40,000 to Rs 25,000. For students of MSc Nursing, it was reduced to Rs 30,000 per annum from Rs 60,000 earlier.
The chief minister on Sunday directed the ST, SC, minorities and backward classes welfare department to put the notice on hold and send the file to his office for a review.
“The outbreak of the pandemic and the lockdowns caused lots of financial problems to families.
The reduction in scholarship would adversely impact the education of hundreds of poor meritorious students. It was really strange that instead of giving financial assistance to needy students, the government is cutting down scholarship amounts. This will lead to more dropouts and unemployment,” said Binod Dash, secretary of Odisha Private Engineering College Association (OPECA).
Around four lakh students would have been affected by the cut in the scholarship amount, sources said. “In any case, a large number of students are not getting jobs even after completing various technical courses. If the government cuts scholarships, the dropout and unemployment rate will increase further. This would lead to more migration from the state,” said Sushil Tirkey, a first-year engineering student.
The government’s decision to reduce the scholarships for ST and SC students also took a political turn when the students’ unit of Congress criticised the move and threatened to stage a protest.
“It is strange that the government’s notification to slash the scholarship amount came just after bypolls in Balasore and Tirtol. It’s as if the government was waiting for the polling to end,” said state Youth Congress president Smruti Ranjan Lenka.