The Centre on Tuesday announced that it would extend the ongoing scholarships for minorities to 5 crore students over its current term, averaging 1 crore per year. The 1-crore figure works out to a three-fold increase over the current 30 lakh scholarships a year. Billed as a major minority outreach by the Narendra Modi government, this decision was announced by minority affairs minister Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi while chairing the governing body and general body meetings of the Maulana Azad Education Foundation here. According to Naqvi, various scholarships will be provided to 5 crore students in the next five years, of which 50 per cent will go to girls. The scholarships for minorities were introduced by the first UPA government, based on the Sachar Committee report that found education levels abysmally low among Muslims in particular.

Source: The Telegraph June 12, 2019 00:11 UTC