(MENAFN-Khaleej Times) following a contempt petition filed by congress leader adam chaki through advocate hashim qureshi the narendra modi government has assured the gujarat high court (hc) that it will implement the centre-sponsored pre-matric scholarship scheme for minority students mostly muslims within 15 days
Qureshi had told the court that despite the hc’s february 15 2013 order the bharatiya janata party administration had failed to implement the ambitious scheme to benefit 120000 poor students belonging to five different minority communities with 75 per cent finance from the federal government and 25 per cent share of the gujarat government.
The scheme which has been introduced all states except gujarat is meant for muslim christian sikh parsi and buddhist students studying in class i to class x whose parents have an annual income less than rs100000.
In an affidavit filed in the hc the gujarat government said it had no intention of depriving the minority students of the educational aid adding that it had already prepared a list of 104520 beneficiaries for whom it had sanctioned rs20 million besides rs90 million received from the centre. the upa government had launched the scheme in 2008 under the 15-point programme for the welfare of religious minorities.
The state government had opposed the scheme on the ground that it discriminated against students of other religious communities and hence it was unconstitutional. but a five-judge bench of the gujarat high court upheld the scheme on february 15 saying it was not unconstitutional and ordered the state government to implement it.
The hc order was given after a pil was filed by congress leader adam chaki. the state government subsequently moved the sc challenging the hc order but the apex court on may 6 refused to stay the hc verdict. only last month in a move to woo voters the federal government stole modi’s thunder by announcing that it would give not just 75 per cent but fully fund the pre-matriculation scholarships for minority students.
Mahesh?khaleejtimes.com
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