MUSLIMS BENEFIT MOST FROM CENTRAL AID, CLEAR UPSC

While the financial aid schemes of the Ministry of Minority Affairs have been helping students from various minority communities clear the coveted Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) examination, data shows that Muslim students have been the biggest beneficiaries of such aid. Although the number of aid-students clearing the UPSC examination is not high, among those who have qualified, Muslim students have benefited the most.

As many as 135 students from various minority communities cleared the UPSC this year, out of whom seven students were provided financial assistance under the ministry’s Nayi Udaan scheme. While the scheme enrolled a total of 105 students from different minority communities this year, all seven who qualified were Muslims. In 2016, the total number of students who were enrolled under the ministry’s scheme was 152, out of whom seven cleared the UPSC. Among them, five were Muslims and two Jains. In 2015, the ministry supported 87 students, out of whom only five could clear the examination, but even among them, three were Muslims, while one student each belonged to the Sikh and Buddhist communities.

The ministry has been running free-coaching programmes such as Nai Udaan and Naya Savera through various institutions and organisations for minority youths preparing for the civil services, other UPSC examinations, medical, engineering and administrative examinations. The rate of financial assistance for clearing the UPSC preliminaries was revised last year to Rs 1 lakh from Rs 50,000.