Life has no religion but the Scholarship has – The Modern Social Studies 16/11/2008 21:57:50 Raghavan Nair - HK Correspondent source:haindava keralam Razia, Mary and Savithri are 7th Standard students. Razia’s father owns a Bungalow, car and other luxuries. Marys’s father and mother are working in a Gulf country. Savithri is a poor scheduled cast student who lives in a small house thatched with coconut leaves. But Razia and Mary are receiving scholarship and when they were collecting the cash, Savithri just asked her teacher as to why she is not getting the scholarship? What has been the teacher’s reply is not relevant here but you must be aware of these favors showered on the so called minorities in disguise to ensure the vote bank! It is to the knowledge of everyone that the scheduled cast students have been receiving lump sum grant as ANNUAL educational aid at the rate of Rs.140/- for lower primary level, Rs.220/- for upper primary level and Rs.330/- for the high school level. But the newly introduced scholarship for minority students has been Rs.10,000/- per year limited to two students in a family whose annual income is less than one lakh rupees. Whereas, Savithri is not even getting that lump sum grant also since she still could not manage to obtain an income certificate from village office in spite of her mother’s year long wait, but Razia’s father and Mary’s father faced no problem in producing the required certificates. Look at the Sachchar Committee’s recommendations and results of its application! In fact, Sachchar Committee and the Communists’ own Sasthra Sahithya Parishat categorically mentioned in their findings that the scheduled cast/scheduled tribe Hindus are the worst in economic backwardness, but Savithri is not eligible for any scholarship simply because she happened to be from the majority cast Hindu, whereas Razia and Mary come from minority casts. In fact, the Paloly Mohammed Committee report went one more step forward and based on his recommendations, Muslim girls shall receive scholarship of Rs.3000/- at degree level, Rs.4000/- at post graduate level and Rs.5000/- for professional courses. Additionally, the Muslim girls shall receive stipend while preparing for competitive exams. We must recognize the designs of this government. We hear about secularism on each and every issue. But what kind of secularism it is when for developmental activities, educational concessions and for even subsistence the only criteria is Religion? The Hindus must realize that the Governments policy of showering concessions on Muslims is creating a separate entity for them which in due course may lead to a situation where the British divided India. Just have a look at the Scholarships declared by government to the minority students and what the scheduled casts/tribes have been receiving: List of Scholarships recently declared by government Amount allocated in 11th Five Year Plan 7880 Crores Amount approved this year 210.6 Crores Students studying from 1 to 10th standard 72 Crores Students studying for +1, +2 and Diploma courses 90 Crores Those studying in Professional Courses 48.6 Crores Scholarship Amount (Eligible for those with 50% marks and above ) 1 to 10 Standard students(Admission, Course, Tuition, Hostel fees) Rs.10,000/- per year +1, +2 Classes(Admission, Tuition, Hostel fees) Rs.9350/- per year Technical/Vocational courses(Admission,Course,Tuition,Hostel fees) Rs.12350/- per year Degree, PG Students Rs.6550/- per year M.Phil, Ph.D Students Rs.35100/- per year School level Scholarship for Scheduled Cast/Tribe students From 1 to 5 Standard No scholarship 6 to 7 Standard Rs.10/- p.m for Boys, Rs.15/- p.m for Girls 8 to 10 Standard Rs.15/- p.m for Boys , Rs.20/- p.m. for Girls School level scholarships for OBC, SEBC students From 1 to 8 Standard No scholarship From 9 to 10 Standard Rs.100/- per month for 10 months Post Metric Scholarship for Scheduled Cast/Tribe Students (60% marks compulsory) MBBS/PG Rs.330/- per month Research students Rs.330/- per month Technical Course Rs.175/- per month Degree, +1, +2 Students Rs.140/- per month Lump Sum grant that Scheduled cast/tribe students receive once in a year 1 to 4 Standards Rs.140/- 5 to 7 Standard Rs.220/- 8 to 10 Standard Rs.330/-