BJD MLAs protest over change in funding pattern in SC Scholarship

ONI Bureau:  The ruling Biju Janata Dal (BJD) delegation on Saturday submitted a memorandum to the President of India through Governor of Odisha, protesting against Central Government’s decision of changing funding pattern under post-matric scholarship scheme for Scheduled Caste (SC) students in Odisha.

In this regard, BJD MLAs staged dharna in front of Raj Bahwan today opposing Centre’s decision of changing funding pattern in SC scholarship.

In a letter to President, BJD members said that the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment was providing 90%, while the state government contributed the remaining 10% of the actual expenditure on providing post-matric scholarship to SC students.

Likewise, during 2016-17, the Central share was Rs 215.80 crore while the state share was Rs 22.48 crore.

However, from 2017-18 onwards, the Ministry has revised the liability of the state government towards post-matric scholarship wherein the state government has to bear 80% of the total expenditure.

It is to be worth mentioning that during 2017-18, the state government had to provide Rs 238.28 crore while the Union Govt allocated Rs 35.12 crore. Similarly, during 2018-19, the state government has to provide Rs 238.28 crore, while the Central share is projected to be Rs 49.39 crore.

Such changes in the funding pattern have given a severe jolt to the post-matric scholarship programme for the SC and ST students.

Therefore the State Government has sought the personal intervention of the President of India to intervene in the matter to restore the funding pattern of 90:10 for smooth implementation of post-matric scholarship scheme for Scheduled Caste (SC) students.