In a bid to lure the politically influential Maratha community ahead of the upcoming urban and rural local body elections in Maharashtra, the Shinde-Fadnavis government on Wednesday announced a major policy decision to give subsistence allowance/stipend of Rs 60,000 per annum to students from the Maratha community, as per the existing criteria of the Social Justice Department applicable to the students from SC, ST and OBC categories.
This was announced by the state Higher and Technical Education Minister Chandrakant Patil, who heads the cabinet sub-committee on Maratha reservation and related issues.
This is important, as the Supreme Court has already scrapped a 12% quota in educational institutes and 13% in government jobs. Even though the Uddhav Thackeray-led government fought a legal battle for its restoration and came out with a slew of programmes for the Maratha community, there has been demand for the restoration of the quota from various pro-Maratha reservation organistaions.
Patil’s announcement of a stipend to students of the Maratha community is aimed at keeping the community in good humour, while reiterating the government’s commitment for the community’s development
The state government has already launched the Chhatrapati Rajaram Maharaj Sarathi Scholarship Scheme to provide an annual benefit of Rs 9,600.
In addition, the Dr Panjabrao Deshmukh Sarathi Higher Education Scheme has been launched so that the students can pursue higher education in the country. Patil said that college students taking admission in 200 reputed out-of-state universities/institutions of the country, whose parents’ annual income is within the limit of 8 lakh, will get the benefit of this scheme.
Under this scheme, Rs 50,000 will be given for the course and educational materials, and reimbursement of the educational fees, examination fees, registration fees and hostel and food fees will be paid to the students staying in the hostel.
‘’Meritorious students from the Maratha community should not be deprived of higher education in reputed universities abroad, so it was decided to start a foreign scholarship scheme with a limit of Rs 30 lakh per year for Master’s degree and Rs 40 lakh for PhD, similar to the scholarship applicable to OBC students,’’ said Patil.
In addition, the loan limit for the Maratha community youth to start their own businesses from the Annasaheb Patil Arthik Magas Vikas Mahamandal has been increased to Rs 15 lakh from Rs 10 lakh. The repayment period has also been increased to 7 years from 5 years. The banks will not demand any mortgage from the applicant for the loan, as the Mahamandal will give a guarantee.
