What: Saksham Scholarship Scheme
When: 2014-15
Why: Encouraging economically weaker differently abled students
- The Minister of State (HRD), Dr. Satya Pal Singh, on March 19, 2018, outlined the features and achievements of Saksham Scholarship Scheme in the Lok Sabha.
- Saksham Scholarship Scheme was launched in 2014-15.
- Objective: It was launched with the objective of encouraging economically weaker differently abled students to pursue technical education at Diploma and Degree levels.
- Scholarship amount of Rs. 30,000 is provided towards tuition fee reimbursement and Rs. 20000 as contingency allowance.
- Under the scheme, 1000 scholarships per annum are available.
- Number of application received from eligible candidates under the scheme every year, remained low despite wide publicity.
- Committee of experts: A committee of experts was set up, to suggest measures for improving the performance of the scheme. The committee recommended that a provision be made under the scheme to support differently abled student for purchase of Aids and Assistive Devices, in cases where tuition fee was either exempted or less than Rs.30,000/-
- Amendment: As the number of application received during 2016-17 still remained low, the scheme was again amended in 2017, to remove the restriction of Centralized Counselling as a criterion for selection, making differently abled students, who were directly admitted to All India Council for Technical Education approved institutions, also eligible to apply for the scholarship.
