Distributing 75 Lakh Scholarships Set as Target Under the Pre-Matric Scholarship Scheme of the Ministry of Minority Affairs During 2012-13

The Ministry of Minority Affairs has set a target of distributing 75 lakh Pre-matric Scholarships to the students belonging to Minority communities (from class I to class X) during the current FY 2012-13. Thus this target is more than double the number that was set as target during the last FY 2011-12 (34 lakh scholarships) – although the Ministry distributed a total of 55,28,557 scholarships during 2011-12. Another milestone in the implementation of this Scheme during 2011-12 was that 51.01% scholarships went to girl students – which means more girl students benefitted from this Scheme than the boys! For distributing these scholarships, the Ministry released an amount of Rs. 615.47 crore during 2011-12. The Plan Budget for Pre-matric Scholarship Scheme during 2012-13 is set at Rs. 900 crore.

Pre-matric Scholarship Scheme was started in 2008-09 and a cumulative total of over 1.22 crore scholarships have been awarded till 31.3.2012. Pre-matric Scholarship Scheme is one of the three scholarship schemes of the Ministry of Minority Affairs included under the Prime Minister’s New 15 Point Programme for the Welfare of Minorities.