New Delhi, Nov 9 The National Students Union of India (NSUI) on Monday staged a protest in front of Education Minister Ramesh Pokhriyal's residence here over the delay in providing scholarship funds to the deserving students.
Hundreds of NSUI activists assembled outside the residence of Pokhriyal under the leadership of General Secretary Nagesh Kariyappa and national Secretary Lokesh Chugh. The Delhi Police later detained the NSUI activists.
The NSUI alleged that the government has not issued scholarship amount after April this year since the Covid-19 pandemic outbreak.
Addressing the protest, Kariyappa said that scholarships are to rewards for students' achievements and educational prowess.
"One of the major issues is the increase in the cost of college, school, and university fees," the NSUI leader said.
He said various scholarships are the reason why students from every sector of the financial food chain can dream of quality education. They depend on these grants to meet their educational expenses.
Citing the example of an LSR student, who was not given the scholarship fund since last year, driving her to end her life a week ago, Kariyappa said, "The LSR student from Telangana, a topper of her school, was an INSPIRE scholarship recipient. She committed suicide after being denied scholarship for over a year by the government."
He said that she had written to the administration about the problems she was facing, but unfortunately, she received no response from the authorities.
"This is just the recent example of how imperative the scholarships are for the students. A calculation of the general expenses borne by a hostel resident of the college suggests that the families spend more than Rs 1 lakh per year on studies and other educational expenses. And when the government delays the provision of funds to the students, it puts them and their families under immense pressure," he added.
Kariyappa said that these unfortunate events raise very serious questions about the priorities of the government of India, which has ample amount of funds to allocate for the renovation of the Central Vista, purchase two aeroplanes for the Prime Minister worth several thousand crores, but forget about the promises made to the highly deserving and talented students of India.
( With inputs from IANS )
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