http://www.newindpress.com/NewsItems.asp?ID=IEO20071223214522&Page=O&Headline=Guidelines+for+BPL+scholarships+released&Title=Thiruvananthapuram&Topic=0
Guidelines for BPL scholarships released Monday December 24 2007 08:06 IST ENS T'PURAM: As many as 418 students from the district will be eligible for the scholarships for higher secondary students below the poverty line. The guidelines for the scholarship scheme were released by the Government the other day. Of the scholarships in the district, 73 beneficiary students will be from the SC/ST category. Among the students eligible for the scholarships, 227 will be from the science stream, 101 from humanities and 90 from commerce. The scheme proposes to cover 10,000 students of higher secondary and vocational higher secondary schools in the State. Each scholarship carries a sum of Rs 5,000. The total financial outlay for the scheme is Rs 5 crore per annum. Of the 10,000 scholarships, 9,000 are earmarked for higher secondary and 1,000 for vocational higher secondary schools. The scholarships will be equally apportioned among the first and second year students. The distribution of the scholarships will be in the ratio of 2:1:1 among science, humanities and commerce batches. In the case of vocational higher secondary schools, the distribution will be two students per school with one each from each year. Of the 9,000 scholarships set apart for the higher secondary students, 7,600 will be for students belonging to general category and 1,200 for those belonging to SC/ST communities. Those who have achievements in sports and arts and those who are differently abled will together get 200 scholarships. In case of VHS schools, 750 scholarships will be for the general category students, 180 for SC/ST community students and 70 for students who have excelled in sports and arts or are differently abled. The concerned directorates will allot the number of scholarships to each school every year. The selection committee at the school level will select the eligible candidates. The eligibility criterion of the scheme is merit-cummeans. Those students whose parents or guardians come under the BPL category and who have secured higher grades in their SSLC or any other equivalent examination are eligible for the scholarship.
