Srinagar, Mar 10: The Government of India on Tuesday said that several fellowship schemes are being implemented to support Scheduled Caste (SC) and Scheduled Tribe (ST) PhD scholars across the country, including those from Jammu & Kashmir.
Replying to an unstarred question in Lok Sabha, Minister of State for Social Justice and Empowerment Ramdas Athawale said that the Department of Social Justice and Empowerment and the Ministry of Tribal Affairs are implementing the National Fellowship Scheme for Scheduled Caste Students (NFSC) and the National Fellowship Scheme for Scheduled Tribe Students (NFST).
The schemes aim to support SC and ST students pursuing M.Phil and PhD courses in universities and institutions recognised by the University Grants Commission (UGC).
According to the government, eligibility under the schemes includes qualifying the UGC-NET or Joint UGC-CSIR NET examination and securing admission in recognised universities. For ST students, candidates must have at least 55 percent marks in post-graduation along with qualifying the required examinations.
The government said that under the NFSC scheme, 2,000 fellowship slots are available annually, including 1,500 for UGC-NET (Humanities stream) and 500 for Joint UGC-CSIR NET (Science stream) candidates.
It also informed that students from various states and Union Territories, including Jammu & Kashmir and Ladakh, have benefited from these schemes during the last three years.
The minister further said that the government has taken several steps to enhance access and timely disbursement of scholarships, including implementation through a dedicated Scholarship and Fellowship Management Portal (SFMP) and Direct Benefit Transfer (DBT) into Aadhaar-seeded bank accounts of beneficiaries.
Besides, awareness about the schemes is being spread through outreach activities and official portals to ensure wider participation of eligible SC and ST students in higher education and research programmes—(KNO)
