The government on Thursday decided to substantially hike the post-matric scholarship amount and other benefits given to students from scheduled tribes and those disabled.
Aiming at extending the coverage of beneficiaries, it has also been decided to revise the income ceiling of parents or guardians from Rs 1.45 lakh (Rs 145,000) to Rs 2 lakh (Rs 200,000) per annum for their children to avail the benefits.
A meeting of the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs, chaired by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, approved revision in the 100 per cent Centrally-sponsored scheme of post-matric scholarships for ST students.
"Financial assistance will be provided to those students who pursue recognised post-matriculation courses in India in recognised institutions. The revision has been made effective from July 1 last year," Home Minister P Chidambaram said.
The monthly maintenance allowance to four categories of day scholars have been revised from Rs 330 to Rs 550 per month in Group-I, Rs 330 to Rs 530 in Group-II, Rs 185 to Rs 300 in Group-III and Rs 140 to Rs 230 in Group-IV.
Similarly, the monthly allowance for hostelers has been raised from Rs 740 to Rs 1200 for Group-I, Rs 510 to Rs 820 for Group-II, Rs 355 to Rs 570 for Group-III and Rs 235 to Rs 380 for Group-IV.
For ST students, annual allowances towards study tour charges, thesis typing and printing charges and book grant for correspondence courses have also been increased.
The CCEA also decided to hike the monthly allowances for students with disability.
Reader allowance for blind students for Group-I and II has been increased from Rs 150 to Rs 240, from Rs 125 to Rs 200 for Group-III and Rs 100 to Rs 160 for Group-IV.
The transport allowance for disabled students, escort allowance for severely handicapped and the helper allowance has been raised from Rs 100 to Rs 160.
The coaching allowance for mentally-challenged and mentally-ill students would go up from Rs 150 to Rs 240.
BPL families to get Rs 1,000 more
The government also approved an increase in the incentive provided to below poverty line (BPL) families for construction of toilets under its total sanitation campaign by Rs 1,000, entailing an additional outgo of Rs 1,348.26 crore (Rs 13.48 billion) from the central exchequer.
The decision was approved by the Cabinet Committee of Economic Affairs (CCEA) chaired by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.
Under the revised scheme, the incentive amount to a BPL household for construction for one latrine has been increased by Rs 1,000 to Rs 3,200 from the current Rs 2,200, Home Minister P Chidambaram told reporters after the CCEA meeting.
In the case of hilly and difficult areas, the government's support has been increased to Rs 3,700 from the earlier Rs 2,700 per unit, he added.
"The revision in the incentive amount being provided to individual households in the BPL category is expected to accelerate the pace of construction of toilets, thereby resulting in better sanitation coverage in rural areas," he said.
"It is expected that all rural households should have access to sanitation facilities by March, 2015," the home minister added.
The increase is support is expected to have an additional financial implication of Rs 1,348.26 crore on the Centre and Rs 577 crore (Rs 5.77 billion) on the state governments taken together.
