Lucknow (UP) : Admission fee up to Rs. 1 lakh for a professional course will now be paid by Mayawati-led Uttar Pradesh government, if the student is from an underprivileged minority community.
A major sop targeting the below poverty line segment, the government order issued on September 15 covers "all BPL students pursuing engineering, medical, masters in business management and specialised courses in the universities across India, if they are from a minority community." Director, minority welfare, M A Khan told TOI on Tuesday the government order aims to reimburse registration charges, tuition and library fees and all necessary expenditure incurred by a candidate. The limit, he said, is Rs 1 lakh. The facility has been extended to paid seats as well.
The order has also warned the enforcing agency that if it failed to make the payment within the stipulated deadline, it would face serious consequences. The only condition is a student availing the facility must have studied in a recognised educational institution, including government approved madrasas. The selection of the candidates, according to Khan, will be on first come first served basis.
In fact, two major schemes cleared by the Maya government in quick succession last month have drawn attention for being overtly Muslim-friendly. Though Khan is at pains to explain that the policy is not limited to Muslims but also takes into account other communities like Sikh, Christian Buddhist and Jain, figures of the last census tell their own story. According to the data, minority communities constitute 19.32% of UP’s population. Of this, a whopping 18.81% are Muslims while the percentage of Christians, Sikh, and Buddhists is 0.13, 0.18 and 0.12 even as the number of Jains is "negligible".
The other newly-launched social security scheme for BPL minorities offers Rs 10,000 towards meeting marriage expenses of a girl above 18 years of age. Letters have already been dispatched to all district magistrates to clear at least 500 such applications in each district.
Source : http://timesofindia.indiatimes
