Rs.120 crore to Andhra for scholarship

NEW DELHI - The central government has released Rs.120 crore to the Andhra Pradesh government under the centrally-sponsored scheme of post-matric scholarship for students belonging to the Scheduled Castes, said a statement released here Tuesday.

“The ministry of social justice and empowerment has released an amount of Rs.120,41,64,000 as central assistance to the government of Andhra Pradesh,” said a statement issued by the ministry of social justice and empowerment.

“Apart from this, the state also has with it, an unspent balance of about Rs.156 crore from the previous financial year (2009-10). An ad-hoc assistance of Rs.47 crore was released to the state earlier this year. Therefore, with the current release of 120.41 crore, Andhra Pradesh has got the entire due amount for the current financial year for implementation of the post-matric scholarship scheme,” the statement said.

It may be recalled that an amount of Rs.452.47 crore was incurred in Andhra Pradesh during the year 2009-10, out of which a central assistance of about Rs.212 crore was released for post-matric scholarship to Scheduled Castes student. Nearly 6.10 lakh students belonging to Scheduled Castes were benefitted with the scheme in the State during the year.

The objective of the scheme is to provide financial assistance to the scheduled castes students studying at post-matriculation or post-secondary stage and to enable them to complete their education.