MUMBAI: Ex-VC, Mumbai University, ex-member of Rajya Sabha and former Planning Commission member Bhalchandra Mungekar has slammed the Centre for stopping pre-matric (class 1 to 8) scholarships for the students of minority communities. Mungekar was among the participants at an interaction to protest the scrapping of pre-matric scholarships to minorities students organized by think tank Movement for Peace and Justice (MPJ) at the Mumbai Press Club on Saturday.
"The pre and post-matric scholarships were started after the Sachar Commission submitted its findings about the poor economic and educational condition of the Muslims. Muslims make 75% of the minorities and stopping of pre-matric scholarships is going to hit the community hard. Given the high rate of malnutrition among Muslim children, the high dropout rate (25% among Muslim children between 6 and 14 years), the end of this scheme means more minority children will drop out," said Mungekar who, as the Planning Commission member, has toured the minority-concentrated areas extensively.
