Minority Education Scholarship: Setback for Kerala in SC, refuses to stay HC verdict

NEW DELHI: Kerala suffered a setback in the Supreme Court in the minority education scholarship issue. The apex court refused Kerala’s demand to stay high court verdict to distribute minority scholarships in proportion to the population. A decision has been taken to send notices to parties as to whether a stay is needed. Kerala argued that if the scholarship is given in proportion to the population, the ineligible would also get the benefit.

The order released by the government in 2015 asserted that the distribution of minority welfare schemes should be 80 per cent for Muslims and 20 per cent for other minority communities. The high court had asked the state government to re-determine the ratio on the basis of population as it was discriminatory and unconstitutional. The state government approached the Supreme Court against this verdict.

The Sachar and Paloli committees had found the backwardness of the Muslim community. That is why more scholarships were granted to that community. The government does not have any official records of the backwardness of the Christian community. In this situation, Kerala had stated in the Supreme Court that if the scholarship is given in proportion to the population, the ineligible will also get the benefit.

A panel led by Justice J B Koshy has been formed now to study the educational backwardness of Christians. After receiving the report of this committee, the state government had stated in its petition to the Supreme Court that they were ready to provide scholarships in proportion to the backwardness.