Pre-matric scholarship for minority students to be restarted in Karnataka

The budget for the Minority Welfare Department has provided Rs 60 crore grant to restart the pre-matric scholarship for minority community students. The scholarship, for students of grades 1 to 8, was stopped by the union government last year.

The budget also mentions a new scheme ‘Swawalambi Sarathi’ that gives a 50% subsidy, up to a maximum of Rs 3 lakh, for unemployed youth to buy four-wheeler vehicles for self-employment.

Allocations have been made for several existing programmes such as education and self-employment loans, coaching classes for competitive exams, and skill development.

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Of the state's 200 Moulana Azad Schools, the better-performing ones will be identified and their quality of education and basic infrastructure improved.

The budget document says that Congress government, in its previous tenure, had approved the construction of 126 community halls. But these weren't completed by the previous BJP government, so Rs 54 cr has been set aside for this, it says.

The honorarium paid to 868 non-Hindu religious institutions will be increased from Rs 48,000 to Rs 60,000 as well.