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LATEST NEWS UPDATES | Dismay at funds cut for Dalit students -Ananya Sengupta

Dismay at funds cut for Dalit students -Ananya Sengupta

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published Published on Mar 4, 2016   modified Modified on Mar 4, 2016
-The Telegraph

New Delhi: Budget cuts in several schemes for minority, Dalit and tribal students have prompted academics and activists to question the government's commitment to the education of marginalised communities.

A section of the budget papers presented on Monday, titled "Expenditure Budget, Statement 22", shows a fall in allocations to many schemes compared with last year's budget.

For example, allocations for pre-matric scholarships for minorities and Dalits have fallen by over 10 per cent and 34 per cent, respectively. Hostel funds for Dalit girls and boys are down by 21 per cent and 80 per cent.

A scheme for "strengthening of education" among tribal girls in "low literacy districts" has been dropped altogether. The allocation for one of the schemes for minority institutions - the human resource development ministry's "scheme for providing education to madrassas/ minorities" - is down 68 per cent.

"Almost all such institutions (teaching mainly minority students) depend on government grants to survive, improve and introduce modern education," said Justice (retd) M.S.A. Siddiqui, former chairperson of the National Commission for Minority Educational Institutions.

"Without this assistance, these institutions will shut down. The minorities will be discouraged from sending their children to school because of a lack of scholarships, hostels and related aid."

A survey backed by the human resource development ministry and released last year shows that around 60 lakh children between the ages of six and 13 remain outside the school system. Of them, 49 per cent are Dalit or tribal while about 25 per cent are Muslim.

A National Sample Survey of 2014 corroborates these figures, saying Dalits account for 32.4 per cent of India's out-of-school children, Muslims for 25.7 per cent and Adivasis for 16.6 per cent.

"It's unfortunate that at a time education is slowly becoming a priority for minorities in India, funds are been reduced by the Union government," said Ashok Agarwal, senior Supreme Court advocate and a Right to Education activist.

"Such budget cuts will deter parents from sending their children to school; instead, they will make the children work and earn money."

Agarwal accused the government of having made "concern for children and minorities its lowest priority".

Dalit activist and academic Kancha Ilaiah agreed that the budget cuts would discourage enrolment and encourage dropouts. "These schemes are an incentive for the poor, marginalised, vulnerable sections to send their children to school. If these are not there, they will stop," he said.

"The budget cuts show that the government doesn't regard primary education for these communities with interest."

Minority participation is low in higher education too, underlining the need for incentives. The All India Survey of Higher Education 2013-14, released last December, shows Muslims making up just 4.3 per cent of India's higher education enrolment, from undergraduates to PhD students. Muslims make up 14.2 per cent of the country's population.

Non-Muslim minorities, who make up 6 per cent of the population, account for 2 per cent of campus enrolment.

The Telegraph, 3 March, 2016, http://www.telegraphindia.com/1160304/jsp/nation/story_72752.jsp#.VtkJB-Y1t_k


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