Hyderabad: The students of Maulana Azad National University (MANUU) held a protest on Wednesday against the inconsistencies in sanctioning minority scholarships.
The Ministry of Minority Affairs has not opened the scholarship portal for the 2023-2024 academic year. MANUU students, along with other minority communities, are unable to apply for scholarships due to this delay.
Last year, the government filed a CBI investigation, claiming that many minority colleges were complicit in the acquisition of fraudulent scholarships. The government suspended more than 830 institutions in 2022 on the grounds of suspected fraud involving fake beneficiaries.
Mateen Ashraf, president of the MANUU Students Union, asserted that the central government is deliberately targeting minority scholarships. The Student Union said it strongly condemns the discriminatory actions of Minority Minister Smriti Irani.
They insisted on immediately release of scholarships and reopening the scholarship portal for the current academic year. The students emphasize the importance of access to fair educational opportunities, regardless of community background.
The president of the student union highlighted a case in which the negligence of a district nodal officer led to the red flagging of a MANUU student, resulting in the cessation of scholarships for over 1800 students.
