KOCHI: The students belonging to backward classes may lose their pre-metric scholarship this year. There are about two lakhs students belonging to this category. Both the state and central governments have not granted the amount required for this. The government has not even published the list of qualified students. The list was not published due to financial problems. Central fund will be subjected to a lapse after this month. State fund cannot be sanctioned either.

About 50 crore rupees was granted this year including Rs 25 cr from the state and Rs 25 cr from the centre. Centre has granted Rs 6.05 cr. Rs. 4.53 crore was recieved in last April. Application was recieved from about 3 lakhs students in August. Rs 28.65 crore was sanctioned in the previous year for 3,42,467 students.

The scholarship at the pre-matric level will encourage parents from minority communities to send their school going children to school, lighten their financial burden on schooleducation and sustain their efforts to support their children to complete school education. The scheme will form the foundation for their educational attainment and provide a level playing field in the competitive employment arena. Empowerment through education, which is one of the objectives of this scheme, has the potential to
lead to upliftment of the socio economic conditions of the minority communities.