Pre-matric scholarship of students from class 1 to 8 closed, central government notice issued

New Delhi,
30 November 2022,
(Updated 30 November 2022, 12:45 PM IST)

Pre Matric Scholarship: For children from backward and minority communities, the Central Government has limited its
Pre-Matric Scholarship Scheme to Class 9 and Class 10 students. Political reactions have also started coming on the
matter of stopping the scholarship of students from class 1 to 8th.

Pre Matric Scholarship: The Central Government has now limited its Pre-Matric Scholarship Scheme for children
from backward and minority communities to Class 9 and Class 10 students. Earlier, the pre-matric scholarship
covered the education of children from classes 1 to 8 belonging to SC, ST, OBC and minority communities. The
government says that the Right to Education covers compulsory education for all children up to class 8th.
The government, in a notice justifying its decision, said that the Right to Education (RTI) Act, 2009 makes it
mandatory for the government to provide free and compulsory primary education (classes 1 to 8) to every child. In
this case, only students studying in class 9 and 10 will be covered under the Pre-Matric Scholarship Scheme of
Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment and Ministry of Tribal Affairs.

The Institute Nodal Officer (INO)/District Nodal Officer (DNO)/State Nodal Officer (SNO) has been asked to verify
the applications for class 9 and 10 only under Pre-Matric Scholarship Scheme of Ministry of Minority Affairs.

Sharp reactions of political parties have come out on this decision. Congress MP Randeep Singh Surjewala said,
‘For decades, children from SC/ST background have been getting scholarship from class 1 to 8, but government
has stopped scholarship from 2022-23, which is a ‘conspiracy’ against the poor ‘ At the same time, BSP leader
Kunwar Danish Ali claimed that the government has found a new way to keep these poor children away from
education by banning the scholarship given to minority students.