Bengaluru: In the current academic year, the Directorate of Minorities has provided scholarships worth Rs 290 crore to 7.85 lakh students from primary education to higher education, according to Minister Zameer Ahmed Khan.

So far, Rs 180 crore has been transferred via Direct Benefit Transfer (DBT) to 6.25 lakh students, while a proposal has been submitted to the Finance Department for an additional Rs 100 crore required for 1.60 lakh students.

Under the Vidyasiri scheme, 23,000 students have been admitted to hostels by the end of January. For 5,753 students who did not secure hostel admission, a monthly stipend of Rs 1,500 has been provided for ten months, amounting to Rs 15,000 per student. A total of Rs 8.63 crore has been spent on this initiative.

Additionally, 200 students faced Aadhaar linkage issues, and once these are resolved, they too will receive their funds, ensuring 100% student coverage, he said. For the current year, the minister said the Directorate had an allocation of Rs 2,292 crore, of which Rs 1,941 crore has been released. So far, Rs 1,608 crore has been spent, accounting for 83 per cent of the allocated funds.

Through the Minority Development Corporation, loans worth Rs 92.50 crore have been distributed to 7,500 students under the Arivu scheme and the Foreign Education Assistance scheme. Similarly, Rs 157 crore has been allocated to the Waqf Board, out of which Rs 125 crore has been spent, the Minister added.