Govt betraying poor by removing class 1-8 students from scholarships: Surjewala

New Delhi: Congress leader Randeep Surjewala on Friday accused the government of betraying the poor by removing class I to 8 children from the ambit of the pre-matric scholarships for SC/ST and minority students.
He said the move would mean lower enrolment and higher dropout rates for students from the Scheduled Caste, Scheduled Tribes and Other Backward Class communities.
“This is betrayal with the poor,” Surjewala tweeted, citing the reply given by the government to a question he asked about the scholarships for SC/ST and minority students.
“Very slyly, on the floor of the Parliament, Modi Government has accepted that Pre-Matric Scholarships meant for SC, ST, OBC and Minority students for Class I to VIII is discontinued. This would mean higher dropout rates and lower enrolment for SC-ST-OBC’s,” he said in a tweet.
Also Read SDPI slams Centre for suspension of scholarships to students In response to Surjewala’s question, Minister of State for Social Justice and Empowerment Pratima Bhoumik earlier told Rajya Sabha the pre-matric scholarships covered classes I to X before it was revised.
“None of the above schemes has been discontinued,” he said. “However, pre-matric scholarship for OBC and others has been revised and now it covers the students studying in Classes IX and X.”