Students belonging to Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes and Backward Classes, who obtain degrees from State universities such as Bangalore University (BU) and Visvesvaraya Technological University (VTU), are at a disadvantage in receiving scholarships for higher studies abroad compared to students from private and deemed-to-be-universities, according to a report of the Karnataka Administrative Reforms Commission-2 (KARC-2) headed by former Chief Secretary T.M. Vijay Bhaskar.
Currently, SC/ST/BC students are selected from among the applicants based on marks obtained in degree or post-graduate courses. “But, it is generally felt that students from State universities, like Bangalore University and VTU, are given lesser marks than students from the relatively more liberal private and deemed-to-be universities. This criterion may put students from State universities at a disadvantage,” states the report.
The SC/ST Department and Backward Classes Welfare Department have been offering Prabhuddha Overseas Scholarship for students to pursue higher studies abroad every year.
Consider university ranking
KARC-2 recommends that selection of students should be based on the rank of the foreign university in the QS, US News and Times World University rankings. Only students who secure admission in universities ranked in the top 100 are to be considered for the scholarship.
A student offered admission in a higher ranked university could be preferred over a student offered admission in a lower ranked university. For this purpose, the average of the ranks of the QS, US News and Times rankings should be taken. This would make the process more transparent, according to the report, which was submitted to the government last week.
The scholarship is for eligible SC/ST students who wish to pursue post-graduation, PhD or research in foreign universities in subjects such as engineering, management, science, agriculture, and medicine. The quantum of financial assistance is based on income limits. If the annual income of a family is less than ₹8 lakh, the government provides 100% scholarship.
15 districts draw a blank
The report said that SC/ST students from 15 out of 31 districts in Karnataka did not get a single Prabhuddha Scholarship in the last two years. More than 50% of the scholarships went to students from Bengaluru Urban district.
Keeping in view the socio-economic imbalance among districts, in the interest of giving opportunity to students from all districts of Karnataka, the commission recommends allocating a minimum of one scholarship per district.
