Mallikarjun Kharge accuses govt of slashing outlay of scholarships for backward students

NEW DELHI: Congress chief Mallikarjun Kharge on Tuesday accused the Modi government of having significantly slashed over the years budget outlay for various scholarships of students belonging to the Scheduled Caste, Scheduled Tribe, Other Backward Communities and minorities. He alleged the government "snatched" these scholarships, making a mockery of its 'Sabka Saath, Sabka Vikas' slogan. He attributed those figures to answers in the Rajya Sabha and budget documents.

Kharge wondered how the youth of these backward communities could get jobs when their education would be affected by shrinking their scholarships. He cited as examples a purported 57% decline over the past nine years in pre-matric scholarships for SCs, 77% slash over five years in the pre-matric scholarship for OBCs, 94% dip in four years in pre-matric scholarship for minorities and 21% decline in 10 years in post-matric scholarship for STs, 13% cut in nine years in post-matric scholarship for SCs, 58% cut in nine years in post-matric scholarship for OBC, EBC and DNT schemes, 83% slash in four years in post-matric scholarship scheme for minorities.