Foreign education grants only help the economically advanced
MUMBAI: Rs 180 crore is the cost borne by the Maharashtra government in the last decade for hundreds of students who flew out for a foreign education under an all-expenses paid, state-sponsored scheme.
The beneficiaries included several whose annual family income exceeded the yearly fees at the top universities where they were admitted, while the really needy, such as a farmer’s son or an auto driver’s daughter had also applied. Many of the scholarships were disbursed only to those who needed no financial aid. The scheme foots the entire bill for Scheduled Caste and neo-Buddhist students, including tuition, living expenses, airfare, and ancillary charges like a laptop, books, with no upper limit.
A survey found that between 2014 and 2020, scholarships were awarded to 379 candidates for post graduate or PhD studies abroad. Of these, 60 declared family income to be more than Rs 15 lakh a year. Another 115 pegged annual family income at more than Rs 6 lakh, the income ceiling that the social justice department was looking at introducing in May this year, but could not after a few protests.
Foreign education grants only help the economically advanced
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