Karnataka govt to fund Centre's pre-matric scholarships of minority students

Karnataka Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai on Thursday assured the Legislative Council that the state government will fund pre-matric scholarship for minority students that the union government recently stopped paying.

Bommai said that the government has written to the concerned union ministry to continue the scholarship. He said the government expects a positive reply. "I have even discussed this with the union minister concerned. In case the union government rejects our request, then the state will take the initiative to disburse the scholarship," he said.

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MLCs Naseer Ahmed and K A Thippeswamy raised the issue and urged the government to consider providing scholarships as at least eight lakh students had applied. "In total, eight lakh students applied during 2022-23, of which six lakh belong to Muslim community and the rest from other minority communities. The government should consider providing them scholarships," Ahmed said.

Bommai said the union government stopped the scholarship in view of the Right to Education (RTE) Act. "If the union government doesn't oblige, the state government will provide supplementary funds at the end of the year or during the next year," he said.