Koppula Eshwar assures scholarships for higher education abroad

All the issues will be taken up with CM KCR soon. We will make all efforts for a positive decision, after considering all aspects," Minister Koppula Eshwar said.

Hyderabad: SC Development Minister Koppula Eshwar on Saturday said the State government would consider the requests for raising the scholarship amount under the Overseas Education Scheme.

The Minister also promised to consider increasing the income limit of parents of students seeking the scholarship to Rs 10 lakh and add more countries to the list where students can study under the scheme.

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“All the issues will be taken up with Chief Minister K Chandrashekhar Rao soon. We will make all efforts to arrive at a positive decision after considering all aspects,” he said. He clarified that the release of funds under the scheme delayed this year due to the pandemic and its impact on the State revenues.

Replying to questions raised in the Assembly during Question Hour, Eshwar said 3,676 students from Telangana had pursued higher studies abroad under the scheme since its launch in 2014. The State had spent Rs 589.69 crore towards the scheme benefiting students from SC, ST, BC and minority communities. Of these, the government spent Rs 100.80 crore on 581 SC students, Rs 29.89 crore on 240 ST students, Rs 181 crore on 1,171 BC students and Rs 277.99 crore on 1,684 minority students.

The Overseas Education Scheme proved to be beneficial for many students from weaker sections to pursue their higher education in universities abroad. Though the scheme existed in erstwhile Andhra Pradesh, the Telangana government brought significant changes and increased the scholarship amount from Rs 10 lakh to Rs 20 lakh. Similarly, the annual income limit of parents has been increased from Rs 3 lakh to Rs 5 lakh.

Currently, students can avail the scheme to pursue higher studies in countries, including the US, the United Kingdom, Australia, Canada, Germany, France, Singapore, South Korea, New Zealand and Japan. Under the scheme, 54 per cent of students are studying in the US, 21 per cent in Australia, 11.5 per cent in the UK and the remaining 27 per cent in other countries.

Replying to another question, the Minister said the State government had spent Rs 145.26 crore towards subsidies against bank-linked schemes through the Telangana State Minorities Finance Corporation and the State Christian Minorities Finance Corporation since the State formation. About 17,425 applicants benefitted from the schemes, including the economic support scheme and the driver empowerment scheme.

Under the driver empowerment, the State will soon provide cars to 420 beneficiaries. The government is providing subsidies under three categories with unit costs at Rs 1 lakh, Rs 2 lakh and Rs 10 lakh where subsidies of 80 per cent, 70 per cent and 60 per cent, respectively, are provided.

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